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diff --git a/old/65953-0.txt b/old/65953-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 59b4cc2..0000000 --- a/old/65953-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7222 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Our Irish Theatre, by Lady Augusta Gregory - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Our Irish Theatre - A chapter of autobiography - -Author: Lady Augusta Gregory - -Release Date: July 29, 2021 [eBook #65953] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Charlene Taylor, John Campbell and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The Internet - Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR IRISH THEATRE *** - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - - All open contractions have been closed up, so for example “does n’t” - and “you ’ll” are shown as “doesn’t” and “you’ll” in the etext. - - Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have been - placed at the end of the relevant paragraph. Footnote [4] has two - anchors. - - The Table of Contents has been created by the transcriber and is - placed in the public domain. - - Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book. - - - - -_By Lady Gregory_ - - - Irish Folk-History Plays - - First Series: The Tragedies - Grania. Kincora. Dervorgilla - - Second Series: The Tragic Comedies - The Canavans. The White Cockade. The Deliverer - - - New Comedies - The Bogie Men. The Full Moon. Coats. Damer’s Gold. McDonough’s Wife - - - Our Irish Theatre - A Chapter of Autobiography - - - - -[Illustration: Augusta Gregory (signature)] - - - - - Our Irish Theatre - - A Chapter of Autobiography - - - By - - Lady Gregory - - - _Illustrated_ - - - G. P. Putnam’s Sons - New York and London - The Knickerbocker Press - 1914 - - - - -CONTENTS - - Page - Chapter I The Theatre in the Making 1 - - Chapter II The Blessing of the Generations 50 - - Chapter III Play-Writing 78 - - Chapter IV The Fight Over “The Playboy” 109 - - Chapter V Synge 119 - - Chapter VI The Fight with the Castle 140 - - Chapter VII “The Playboy” in America 169 - - The Binding 253 - - Appendix I Plays Produced by the Abbey Theatre Co. 261 - - Appendix II “The Nation” on “Blanco Posnet” 267 - - Appendix III “The Playboy” in America 280 - - Appendix IV In the Eyes of Our Enemies 306 - - Appendix V In the Eyes of Our Friends 314 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - PAGE - LADY GREGORY _Frontispiece_ - - THE ABBEY THEATRE, DUBLIN 40 - From a photograph by Keogh Bros., Ireland. - - MISS SARA ALLGOOD 80 - From a drawing by Robert Gregory. - - J. M. SYNGE 120 - From a drawing by Robert Gregory in 1904. - - Threatening Letter 296 - - - - -Our Irish Theatre - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE THEATRE IN THE MAKING - - -_To Richard Gregory.--Little Grandson: When I go into the garden in -the morning to find you a nectarine or tell you the names of flowers, -Catalpa, Lovelies-bleeding, Balsam, Phlox, you ask me why I cannot -stay but must go back to the house, and when I say it is to write -letters, you ask, “What for?” And when winter comes, you will ask me -why I must go away over the sea instead of waiting for your Christmas -stocking and your tree._ - -_The other day I was sitting outside the door, where the sweet-peas -grow, with an old man, and when you came and called me he got up to -go away, and as he wished me good-bye, he said: “They were telling -me you are going to America, and says I, ‘Whatever the Lady does, I -am certain she is doing nothing but what she thinks to be right.’ -And that the Lord may keep you safe and protect you from the power of -your enemy.”_ - -_Some day when I am not here to answer, you will maybe ask, “What -were they for, the writing, the journeys, and why did she have an -enemy?” So I will put down the story now, that you may know all about -it bye and bye._ - - * * * * * - -Fourteen or fifteen years ago I still wrote from time to time in a -diary I used to keep till the sand in the hour-glass on my table -began to run so fast that I had to lay by the book as well as -embroidery, and archæology, and drying lavender, and visits to the -houses of friends. - -I was in London in the beginning of 1898, and I find written, “Yeats -and Sir Alfred Lyall to tea, Yeats stayed on. He is very full of -play-writing.... He with the aid of Miss Florence Farr, an actress -who thinks more of a romantic than of a paying play, is very keen -about taking or building a little theatre somewhere in the suburbs -to produce romantic drama, his own plays, Edward Martyn’s, one of -Bridges’, and he is trying to stir up Standish O’Grady and Fiona -Macleod to write some. He believes there will be a reaction after -the realism of Ibsen, and romance will have its turn. He has put a -‘great deal of himself’ into his own play _The Shadowy Waters_ and -rather startled me by saying about half his characters have eagles’ -faces.” - -Later in the year I was staying for a few days with old Count de -Basterot, at Duras, that is beyond Kinvara and beside the sea. He had -been my husband’s warm friend, and always in the summer time we used -to go and spend at least one long day with him,--we two at first, and -then later I went with my son and the boy and girl friends of his -childhood. They liked to go out in a hooker and see the seals showing -their heads, or to paddle delicately among the jellyfish on the -beach. It was a pleasant place to pass an idle day. The garden was -full of flowers. Lavender and carnations grew best, and there were -roses also and apple trees, and many plums ripened on the walls. This -seemed strange, because outside the sheltered garden there were only -stone-strewn fields and rocks and bare rock-built hills in sight, and -the bay of Galway, over which fierce storms blow from the Atlantic. -The Count remembered when on Garlic Sunday men used to ride races, -naked, on unsaddled horses out into the sea; but that wild custom -had long been done away with by decree of the priests. Later still, -when Harrow and Oxford took my son away and I had long spaces of time -alone, I would sometimes go to Duras to spend a few days. - -I always liked to talk and to listen to the Count. He could tell me -about French books and French and Italian history and politics, for -he lived but for the summer months in Ireland and for the rest of the -year in Paris or in Rome. Mr. Arthur Symons has written of him and -his talks of race,--to which he attributed all good or bad habits and -politics--as they took long drives on the Campagna. M. Paul Bourget -came more than once to stay in this Burren district, upon which he -bestowed a witty name, “Le Royaume de Pierre.” It was to M. Bourget -that on his way to the modest little house and small estate, the -Count’s old steward and servant introduced the Atlantic, when on the -road from the railway station at Gort its waters first come in sight: -_Voila la mer qui baigne L’Amérique et les terres de Monsieur le -Comte_. For he--the steward--had been taken by his master on visits -to kinsmen in France and Italy--their names are recorded in that sad, -pompous, black-bordered document I received one day signed by those -who have _l’honneur de vous faire part de la perte douloureuse qu’ils -viennent d’éprouver en la personne de Florimond Alfred Jacques, Comte -de Basterot, Chevalier de l’ordre du Saint Sépulcre, leur cousin -germain et cousin_ [who died at Duras (Irlande) September 15, 1904]; -_la Marquise de la Tour Maubourg, le Vicomte et la Vicomtesse de -Bussy, la Baronne d’Acker de Montgaston, le Marquis et la Marquise de -Courcival, le Comte et la Comtesse Gromis de Trana, la Comtesse Irène -d’Entreves_, and so on, and so on. I do not know whether the bearers -of these high-sounding names keep him in their memory--it may well be -that they do, for he was a friend not easily forgotten--but I know -there is many a prayer still said on the roads between Kinvara and -Burren and Curranroe and Ballinderreen for him who “never was without -a bag of money to give in charity, and always had a heart for the -poor.” - -On one of those days at Duras in 1898, Mr. Edward Martyn, my -neighbour, came to see the Count, bringing with him Mr. Yeats, whom I -did not then know very well, though I cared for his work very much -and had already, through his directions, been gathering folk-lore. -They had lunch with us, but it was a wet day, and we could not go -out. After a while I thought the Count wanted to talk to Mr. Martyn -alone; so I took Mr. Yeats to the office where the steward used to -come to talk,--less about business I think than of the Land War or -the state of the country, or the last year’s deaths and marriages -from Kinvara to the headland of Aughanish. We sat there through that -wet afternoon, and though I had never been at all interested in -theatres, our talk turned on plays. Mr. Martyn had written two, _The -Heather Field_ and _Maeve_. They had been offered to London managers, -and now he thought of trying to have them produced in Germany where -there seemed to be more room for new drama than in England. I said it -was a pity we had no Irish theatre where such plays could be given. -Mr. Yeats said that had always been a dream of his, but he had of -late thought it an impossible one, for it could not at first pay its -way, and there was no money to be found for such a thing in Ireland. - -We went on talking about it, and things seemed to grow possible as -we talked, and before the end of the afternoon we had made our plan. -We said we would collect money, or rather ask to have a certain sum -of money guaranteed. We would then take a Dublin theatre and give a -performance of Mr. Martyn’s _Heather Field_ and one of Mr. Yeats’s -own plays, _The Countess Cathleen_. I offered the first guarantee of -£25. - -A few days after that I was back at Coole, and Mr. Yeats came over -from Mr. Martyn’s home, Tillyra, and we wrote a formal letter to send -out. We neither of us write a very clear hand, but a friend had just -given me a Remington typewriter and I was learning to use it, and I -wrote out the letter with its help. That typewriter has done a great -deal of work since that day, making it easy for the printers to read -my plays and translations, and Mr. Yeats’s plays and essays, and -sometimes his poems. I have used it also for the many, many hundreds -of letters that have had to be written about theatre business in each -of these last fifteen years. It has gone with me very often up and -down to Dublin and back again, and it went with me even to America -last year that I might write my letters home. And while I am writing -the leaves are falling, and since I have written those last words -on its keys, she who had given it to me has gone. She gave me also -the great gift of her friendship through more than half my lifetime, -Enid, Lady Layard, Ambassadress at Constantinople and Madrid, helper -of the miserable and the wounded in the Turkish-Russian war; helper -of the sick in the hospital she founded at Venice, friend and hostess -and guest of queens in England and Germany and Rome. She was her -husband’s good helpmate while he lived--is not the Cyprus treaty -set down in that clear handwriting I shall never see coming here -again? And widowed, she kept his name in honour, living after him for -fifteen years, and herself leaving a noble memory in all places where -she had stayed, and in Venice where her home was and where she died. - -Our statement--it seems now a little pompous--began: - -“We propose to have performed in Dublin, in the spring of every year -certain Celtic and Irish plays, which whatever be their degree of -excellence will be written with a high ambition, and so to build up a -Celtic and Irish school of dramatic literature. We hope to find in -Ireland an uncorrupted and imaginative audience trained to listen by -its passion for oratory, and believe that our desire to bring upon -the stage the deeper thoughts and emotions of Ireland will ensure for -us a tolerant welcome, and that freedom to experiment which is not -found in theatres of England, and without which no new movement in -art or literature can succeed. We will show that Ireland is not the -home of buffoonery and of easy sentiment, as it has been represented, -but the home of an ancient idealism. We are confident of the support -of all Irish people, who are weary of misrepresentation, in carrying -out a work that is outside all the political questions that divide -us.” - -I think the word “Celtic” was put in for the sake of Fiona Macleod -whose plays however we never acted, though we used to amuse ourselves -by thinking of the call for “author” that might follow one, and the -possible appearance of William Sharp in place of the beautiful woman -he had given her out to be, for even then we had little doubt they -were one and the same person. I myself never quite understood the -meaning of the “Celtic Movement,” which we were said to belong to. -When I was asked about it, I used to say it was a movement meant to -persuade the Scotch to begin buying our books, while we continued not -to buy theirs. - -We asked for a guarantee fund of £300 to make the experiment, which -we hoped to carry on during three years. The first person I wrote to -was the old poet, Aubrey de Vere. He answered very kindly, saying, -“Whatever develops the genius of Ireland, must in the most effectual -way benefit her; and in Ireland’s genius I have long been a strong -believer. Circumstances of very various sorts have hitherto tended -much to retard the development of that genius; but it cannot fail to -make itself recognised before very long, and Ireland will have cause -for gratitude to all those who have hastened the coming of that day.” - -I am glad we had this letter, carrying as it were the blessing of -the generation passing away to that which was taking its place. He -was the first poet I had ever met and spoken with; he had come in -my girlhood to a neighbour’s house. He was so gentle, so fragile, -he seemed to have been wafted in by that “wind from the plains of -Athenry” of which he wrote in one of his most charming little poems. -He was of the Lake School, and talked of Wordsworth, and I think -it was as a sort of courtesy or deference to him that I determined -to finish reading _The Excursion_, which though a reader of poetry -it had failed me, as we say, to get through. At last one morning I -climbed up to a wide wood, Grobawn, on one of the hillsides of Slieve -Echtge, determined not to come down again until I had honestly read -every line. I think I saw the sun set behind the far-off Connemara -hills before I came home, exhausted but triumphant! I have a charming -picture of Aubrey de Vere in my mind as I last saw him, at a garden -party in London. He was walking about, having on his arm, in the -old-world style, the beautiful Lady Somers, lovely to the last as in -Thackeray’s day, and as I had heard of her from many of that time, -and as she had been painted by Watts. - -Some gave us their promise with enthusiasm but some from good will -only, without much faith that an Irish Theatre would ever come to -success. One friend, a writer of historical romance, wrote: “October -15th. I enclose a cheque for £1, but confess it is more as a proof -of regard for _you_ than of belief in the drama, for I cannot with -the best wish in the world to do so, feel hopeful on that subject. -My experience has been that any attempt at treating Irish history -is a fatal handicap, not to say absolute _bar_, to anything in the -shape of popularity, and I cannot see how any drama can flourish -which is not to some degree supported by the public, as it is even -more dependent on it than literature is. There _are_ popular Irish -dramatists, of course, and _very_ popular ones, but then unhappily -they did not treat of Irish subjects, and _The School for Scandal_ -and _She Stoops to Conquer_ would hardly come under your category. -You will think me very discouraging, but I cannot help it, and I am -also afraid that putting plays experimentally on the boards is a very -costly entertainment. Where will they be acted in the first instance? -And has any stage manager undertaken to produce them? Forgive my -tiresomeness; it does not come from want of sympathy, only from a -little want of hope, the result of experience.” - -“October 19th. I seize the opportunity of writing again as I am -afraid you will have thought I wrote such an unsympathetic letter. -It is not, believe me, that I would not give anything to see Irish -literature and Irish drama taking a good place, as it ought to do, -and several of the authors you name I admire extremely. It is only -from the practical and _paying_ point of view that I feel it to be -rather rash. Plays cost more, I take it, to produce than novels, and -one would feel rather rash if one brought out a novel at one’s own -risk.” - -I think the only actual refusals I had were from three members of the -Upper House. I may give their words as types of the discouragement -we have often met with from friends: “I need not, I am sure, tell -you how gladly I would take part in anything for the honour of Old -Ireland and especially anything of the kind in which you feel an -interest; but I must tell you frankly that I do not much believe in -the movement about which you have written to me. I have no sympathy, -you will be horrified to hear, with the ‘London Independent Theatre,’ -and I am sure that if Ibsen and Co. could know what is in my mind, -they would regard me as a ‘Philistine’ of the coarsest class! Alas! -so far from wishing to see the Irish characters of Charles Lever -supplanted by more refined types, they have always been the delight -of my heart, and there is no author in whose healthy, rollicking -company, even nowadays, I spend a spare hour with more thorough -enjoyment. I am very sorry that I cannot agree with you in these -matters, and I am irreclaimable; but all the same I remain with many -pleasant remembrances and good wishes for you and yours, Yours very -truly----” - -Another, the late Lord Ashbourne, wrote: “I know too little of the -matter or the practicability of the idea to be able to give my name -to your list, but I shall watch the experiment with interest and be -glad to attend. The idea is novel and curious, and how far it is -capable of realisation I am not at all in a position to judge. Some -of the names you mention are well known in literature but not as -dramatists or play-writers, and therefore the public will be one to -be worked up by enthusiasm and love of country. The existing class of -actors will not, of course, be available, and the existing playgoers -are satisfied with their present attractions. Whether ‘houses’ can be -got to attend the new plays, founded on new ideas and played by new -actors, no one can foretell.” - -One, who curiously has since then become an almost too zealous -supporter of our theatre, says: “I fear I am not sanguine about the -success in a pecuniary way of a ‘Celtic Theatre,’ nor am I familiar -with the works, dramatic or otherwise, of Mr. Yeats or of Mr. Martyn. -Therefore, at the risk of branding myself in your estimation as a -hopeless Saxon and Philistine, I regret I cannot see my way to giving -my name to the enterprise or joining in the guarantee.” On the other -hand, Professor Mahaffy says, rather unexpectedly, writing from -Trinity College: “I am ready to risk £5 for your scheme and hope they -may yet play their drama in Irish. It will be as intelligible to the -nation as Italian, which we so often hear upon our stage.” - -And many joined who had seemed too far apart to join in any scheme. -Mr. William Harpole Lecky sent a promise of £5 instead of the £1 I -had asked. Lord Dufferin, Viceroy of India and Canada, Ambassador at -Paris, Constantinople, St. Petersburg, and Rome, not only promised -but sent his guarantee in advance. I returned it later, for the -sums guaranteed were never called for, Mr. Martyn very generously -making up all loss. Miss Jane Barlow, Miss Emily Lawless, the -Lord Chancellor of Ireland (“Peter the Packer” as he was called by -Nationalists), John O’Leary, Mr. T. M. Healy, Lord and Lady Ardilaun, -the Duchess of St. Albans, Doctor Douglas Hyde, the Rt. Hon. Horace -Plunkett, Mr. John Dillon, M.P., all joined. Mr. John Redmond -supported us, and afterwards wrote me a letter of commendation with -leave to use it. Mr. William O’Brien was another supporter. I did not -know him personally but I remember one day long ago going to tea at -the Speaker’s house, after I had heard him in a debate, and saying -I thought him the most stirring speaker of all the Irish party; and -I was amused when my gentle and dignified hostess, Mrs. Peel, said, -“I quite agree with you. When I hear William O’Brien make a speech, -I feel that if I were an Irishwoman, I should like to go and break -windows.” - -Then Mr. Yeats and Mr. Martyn went to Dublin to make preparations, -but the way was unexpectedly blocked by the impossibility of getting -a theatre. The only Dublin theatres, the Gaiety, the Royal, and the -Queen’s, were engaged far ahead, and in any case we could not have -given them their price. Then we thought of taking a hall or a concert -room, but there again we met with disappointment. We found there was -an old Act in existence, passed just before the Union, putting a -fine of £300 upon any one who should give a performance for money in -any unlicensed building. As the three large theatres were the only -buildings licensed, a claim for a special license would have to be -argued by lawyers, charging lawyers’ fees, before the Privy Council. -We found that even amateurs who acted for charities were forced to -take one of the licensed theatres, so leaving but little profit for -the charity. There were suggestions made of forming a society like -the Stage Society in London, to give performances to its members -only, but this would not have been a fit beginning for the National -Theatre of our dreams. I wrote in a letter at that time: “I am all -for having the Act repealed or a Bill brought in, empowering the -Municipality to license halls when desirable.” And although this was -looked on as a counsel of perfection, it was actually done within the -year. I wrote to Mr. Lecky for advice and help, and he told me there -was a Bill actually going through the House of Commons, the Local -Government (Ireland) Bill, in which he thought it possible a Clause -might be inserted that would meet our case. Mr. John Redmond and Mr. -Dillon promised their help; so did Mr. T. M. Healy, who wrote to Mr. -Yeats: “I am acquainted with the state of the law in Dublin which I -should gladly assist to alter as proposed. Whether the Government -are equally well disposed may be doubted, as the subject is a little -outside their Bill, and no adequate time exists for discussing it and -many other important questions. They will come up about midnight or -later and will be yawned out of hearing by our masters.” - -A Clause was drawn up by a Nationalist member, Mr. Clancy, but in -July, 1898, Mr. Lecky writes from the House of Commons: “I have not -been forgetting the Celtic Theatre and I think the enclosed Clause, -which the Government have brought forward, will practically meet its -requirements. The Attorney-General objected to Mr. Clancy’s Clause as -too wide and as interfering with existing patent rights, but promised -a Clause authorising amateur acting. I wrote to him, however, stating -the Celtic case, and urging that writers should be able, like those -who got up the Ibsen plays in London, to get regular actors to play -for them, and I think this Clause will allow it.... After Clause 59 -insert the following Clause: (1) Notwithstanding anything in the Act -of Parliament of Ireland of the twenty-sixth year of King George -the Third, Chapter fifty-seven, intituled an Act for regulating the -stage in the city and county of Dublin, the Lord Lieutenant may on -the application of the council for the county of Dublin or the county -borough of Dublin grant an occasional license for the performance of -any stage play or other dramatic entertainment in any theatre, room, -or building where the profits arising therefrom are to be applied for -charitable purpose or in aid of the funds of any society instituted -for the purpose of science, literature, or the fine arts exclusively. -(2) The license may contain such conditions and regulations as appear -fit to the Lord Lieutenant, and may be revoked by him.” - -This Clause was passed but we are independent now of it,--the Abbey -Theatre holds its own Patent. But the many amateur societies which -play so often here and there in Dublin may well call for a blessing -sometimes on the names of those by whom their charter was won. - -We announced our first performance for May 8, 1899, nearly a year -after that talk on the Galway coast, at the Ancient Concert Rooms. -Mr. Yeats’ _Countess Cathleen_ and Mr. Martyn’s _Heather Field_ were -the plays chosen, as we had planned at the first. Mr. George Moore -gave excellent help in finding actors, and the plays were rehearsed -in London. But then something unexpected happened. A writer who had -a political quarrel with Mr. Yeats sent out a pamphlet in which -he attacked _The Countess Cathleen_, on the ground of religious -unorthodoxy. The plot of the play, taken from an old legend, is this: -during a famine in Ireland some starving country people, having been -tempted by demons dressed as merchants to sell their souls for money -that their bodies may be saved from perishing, the Countess Cathleen -sells her own soul to redeem theirs, and dies. The accusation made -was that it was a libel on the people of Ireland to say they could -under any circumstances consent to sell their souls and that it was a -libel on the demons that they counted the soul of a countess of more -worth than those of the poor. At Cathleen’s death the play tells us, -“God looks on the intention, not the deed,” and so she is forgiven at -the last and taken into Heaven; and this it was said is against the -teaching of the Church. - -Mr. Martyn is an orthodox Catholic, and to quiet his mind, the play -was submitted to two good Churchmen. Neither found heresy enough in -it to call for its withdrawal. One of them, the Rev. Dr. Barry, the -author of _The New Antigone_, wrote: - - “BRIDGE HOUSE, WALLINGFORD, - “March 26, 1899. - - “DEAR MR. YEATS, - -“I read your _Countess Cathleen_ as soon as possible after seeing -you. It is beautiful and touching. I hope you will not be kept back -from giving it by foolish talk. Obviously, from the literal point of -view theologians, Catholic or other, would object that no one is free -to sell his soul in order to buy bread even for the starving. But St. -Paul says, ‘I wish to be anathema for my brethren’; which is another -way of expressing what you have put into a story. I would give the -play first and explanations afterwards. - -“Sometime perhaps you will come and spend a night here and I shall be -charmed. But don’t take a superfluous journey now. It is an awkward -place to get at. I could only tell you, as I am doing, that if people -will not read or look at a play of this kind in the spirit which -dictated it, no change you might make would satisfy them. You have -given us what is really an Auto, in the manner of Calderon, with the -old Irish folk-lore as a perceptive; and to measure it by the iron -rule of experts and schoolmen would be most unfair to it. Some one -else will say that you have learned from the Jesuits to make the end -justify the means--and much that man will know of you or the Jesuits. -With many kind wishes for your success, and fraternal greetings in -the name of Ireland, - - “Ever yours, - “WILLIAM BARRY.” - -So our preparations went on. Mr. Yeats wrote a little time before -the first performance: “Everybody tells me we are going to have good -audiences. My play, too, in acting goes wonderfully well. The actors -are all pretty sound. The first Demon is a little over-violent and -restless but he will improve. Lionel Johnson has done a prologue -which I enclose.” - -That prologue, written by so Catholic and orthodox a poet, was spoken -before the plays at the Ancient Concert Rooms on May 8, 1899: - - The May fire once on every dreaming hill - All the fair land with burning bloom would fill; - All the fair land, at visionary night, - Gave loving glory to the Lord of Light. - Have we no leaping flames of Beltaine praise - To kindle in the joyous ancient ways; - No fire of song, of vision, of white dream, - Fit for the Master of the Heavenly Gleam; - For him who first made Ireland move in chime, - Musical from the misty dawn of time? - - Ah, yes; for sacrifice this night we bring - The passion of a lost soul’s triumphing; - All rich with faery airs that, wandering long, - Uncaught, here gather into Irish song; - Sweet as the old remembering winds that wail, - From hill to hill of gracious Inisfail; - Sad as the unforgetting winds that pass - Over her children in her holy grass - At home, and sleeping well upon her breast, - Where snowy Deirdre and her sorrows rest. - - Come, then, and keep with us an Irish feast, - Wherein the Lord of Light and Song is priest; - Now, at this opening of the gentle May, - Watch warring passions at their storm and play; - Wrought with the flaming ecstasy of art, - Sprung from the dreaming of an Irish heart. - -But alas! His call to “watch warring passions at their storm and -play,” was no vain one. The pamphlet, _Souls for Gold_, had been -sent about, and sentences spoken by the demons in the play and given -detached from it were quoted as Mr. Yeats’ own unholy beliefs. A -Cardinal who confessed he had read none of the play outside these -sentences condemned it. Young men from the Catholic University were -roused to come and make a protest against this “insult to their -faith.” There was hooting and booing in the gallery. In the end -the gallery was lined with police, for an attack on the actors was -feared. They, being English and ignorant of Ireland, found it hard -to understand the excitement, but they went through their parts very -well. There was enthusiasm for both plays, and after the first night -London critics were sent over, Mr. Max Beerbohm among them, and gave -a good report. Yet it was a stormy beginning for our enterprise, -and a rough reception for a poetic play. The only moment, I think, -at which I saw Mr. Yeats really angry was at the last performance. I -was sitting next him, and the play had reached the point where the -stage direction says, “The Second Merchant goes out through the door -and returns with the hen strangled. He flings it on the floor.” The -merchant came in indeed, but without the strangled hen. Mr. Yeats got -up, filled with suspicions that it also might have been objected to -on some unknown ground, and went round to the back of the stage. But -he was given a simple explanation. The chief Demon said he had been -given charge of the hen, and had hung it out of a window every night, -“And this morning,” he said, “when I pulled up the string, there was -nothing on it at all.” - -But that battle was not a very real one. We have put on _Countess -Cathleen_ a good many times of late with no one speaking against it -at all. And some of those young men who hissed it then are our good -supporters now. - -The next year English actors were again brought over to play, this -time in the Gaiety Theatre. A little play by Miss Milligan, _The -Last Feast of the Fianna_ was given, and Mr. Martyn’s _Maeve_, and on -alternate nights _The Bending of the Bough_, founded by Mr. George -Moore on Mr. Martyn’s _Tale of a Town_. They were produced on the -evening of February 20, 1900. “On the evening before the production,” -I wrote, “Mr. Yeats gave a little address on the play, _Maeve_, in -which he said there is a wonderful literary invention, that of Peg -Inerny, the old woman in rags in the daytime, but living another and -second life, a queen in the ideal world, a symbol of Ireland. The -financial question touched in _The Bending of the Bough_ was chosen, -because on it all parties are united, but it means really the cause -nearest to each of our hearts. The materialism of England and its -vulgarity are surging up about us. It is not Shakespeare England -sends us, but musical farces, not Keats and Shelley, but _Titbits_. -A mystic friend of his had a dream in which he saw a candle whose -flame was in danger of being extinguished by a rolling sea. The waves -sometimes seemed to go over it and quench it, and he knew it to be -his own soul and that if it was quenched, he would have lost his -soul. And now our ideal life is in danger from the sea of commonness -about us.” - -_The Bending of the Bough_ was the first play dealing with a -vital Irish question that had appeared in Ireland. There was a -great deal of excitement over it. My diary says: “M. is in great -enthusiasm over it, says it will cause a revolution. H. says no -young man can see that play and leave the house as he came into -it.... The Gaelic League in great force sang _Fainne Geal an Lae_ -between the acts, and _The Wearing of the Green_ in Irish! And when -‘author’ could not appear, there were cries of ‘An Craoibhin,’ -and cheers were given for Hyde. The actors say they never played -to so appreciative an audience, but were a little puzzled at the -applause, not understanding the political allusions. The play hits -so impartially all round that no one is really offended, certainly -not the Nationalists and we have not heard that Unionists are either. -Curiously, _Maeve_, which we didn’t think a Nationalist play at all, -has turned out to be one, the audience understanding and applauding -the allegory. There is such applause at ‘I am only an old woman, but -I tell you that Erin will never be subdued’ that Lady ----, who was -at a performance, reported to the Castle that they had better boycott -it, which they have done. G. M. is, I think, a little puzzled by his -present political position, but I tell him and E. Martyn we are not -working for Home Rule; we are preparing for it.” - -In our third year, 1901, Mr. F. R. Benson took our burden on his -shoulders and gave a fine performance of _Diarmuid and Grania_, an -heroic play by Mr. George Moore and Mr. Yeats. I wrote: “I am so glad -to hear of Benson’s appreciation. Anyhow, he can hardly be supposed -to be on the side of incendiarism; he is so very respectable. -Trinity College won’t know whether to go or to stay away.” Mr. -Yeats wrote: “Yesterday we were rehearsing at the Gaiety. The kid -Benson is to carry in his arms was wandering in and out among the -stage properties. I was saying to myself, ‘Here are we, a lot of -intelligent people who might have been doing some sort of decent work -that leaves the soul free; yet here we are, going through all sorts -of trouble and annoyance for a mob that knows neither literature nor -art. I might have been away, away in the country, in Italy perhaps, -writing poems for my equals and my betters. That kid is the only -sensible creature on the stage. He knows his business and keeps to -it.’ At that very moment one of the actors called out, ‘Look at the -kid, eating the property ivy!’” - -This time also we produced _Casad-an-Sugan_, (_The Twisting of the -Rope_) by the founder of the Gaelic League, Dr. Douglas Hyde. He -himself acted the chief part in it and even to those who had no -Irish, the performance was a delight, it was played with so much -gaiety, ease, and charm. It was the first time a play written in -Irish had ever been seen in a Dublin theatre. - -Our three years’ experiment had ended, and we hesitated what to do -next. But a breaking and rebuilding is often for the best, and so -it was now. We had up to this time, as I have said, played only -once a year, and had engaged actors from London, some of them -Irish certainly, but all London-trained. The time had come to play -oftener and to train actors of our own. For Mr. Yeats had never -ceased attacking the methods of the ordinary theatre, in gesture, in -staging, and in the speaking of verse. It happened there were two -brothers living in Dublin, William and Frank Fay, who had been in -the habit of playing little farces in coffee palaces and such like in -their spare time. William had a genius for comedy, Frank’s ambitions -were for the production of verse. They, or one of them, had thought -of looking for work in America, but had seen our performances, and -thought something might be done in the way of creating a school of -acting in Ireland. They came to us at this time and talked matters -over. They had work to do in the daytime and could only rehearse at -night. The result was that Mr. Yeats gave his _Kathleen ni Houlihan_ -to be produced by Mr. Fay at the same time as a play by Mr. George -Russell (A.E.), in St. Theresa’s Hall, Clarendon Street. I had -written to Mr. Yeats: “If all breaks up, we must try and settle -something with Fay, possibly a week of the little plays he has been -doing through the spring. I have a sketch in my head that might do -for Hyde to work on. I will see if it is too slight when I have noted -it down, and if not, will send it to you.” - -Early, in 1902, Mr. Russell wrote to me: “I have finished _Deirdre_ -at last. Heaven be praised! in the intervals of railway journeys, -and the Fays are going to do their best with it. I hope I shall not -suffer too much in the process, but I prefer them to English actors -as they are in love with their story.” A little hall in Camden Street -was hired for rehearsal, Mr. Russell writing in the same year: “I -will hand cheque to Fay. I know it will be a great assistance to them -as the little hall will require alterations and fittings and as none -of the Company are in possession of more than artisan’s wages. They -have elected W. B. Y. as president of the Irish National Dramatic -Society, and A. E. as vice-president, and we are the gilding at the -prow of the vessel. They have begun work already and are reading and -rehearsing drama for the autumn.” - -Mr. Fay was very hopeful and full of courage. He wrote in December, -1902: “I have received your letter and parcel. I am not doing this -show on a large scale as I am leaving _The Hour-glass_ off till the -middle of January.... I am just giving a show of _The Pot of Broth_, -_The Foundations_, and _Elis and the Beggarman_, and I’m not making a -fuss about it, as I want to try how many people the hall will hold, -and what prices suit best, so it is more or less an experimental -show and then, about the middle of January, I will do the first -real show with _The Hour-glass_ as principal feature. The hall took -a great deal of work to get right, and as we had to do all the work -ourselves, we had very little time to rehearse.” And he says later: -“I received your kind note, also enclosures, for which we are very -much obliged. We are indeed getting into very flourishing conditions, -and if things only continue in the present state, I have no doubt we -shall be able to show a fairly good balance at the end of the year. -I have all but concluded an arrangement with a branch of the Gaelic -League to take our hall for three nights a week, and that will leave -us under very small rental if it comes off. About the performance and -how it worked out. I spent twenty-five shillings on printing, etc., -and we took altogether about four pounds fifteen shillings, so I see -no reason to complain financially. But I find the stage very small, -and the want of dressing-rooms makes it very difficult to manage -about the scenery, as all your actors have to stand against the walls -while it is being changed. I think, however, we can struggle through -if we don’t attempt very large pieces. The hall was rather cold, but -I think I can manage a stove and get over that.” - -That show of _The Hour-glass_ went well, and in that year--1903--two -of Mr. Yeats’s verse plays were produced, _The King’s Threshold_ and -_Shadowy Waters_. In that year also, new names came in, my own with -_Twenty-five_, Mr. Padraic Colum’s with _Broken Soil_, and that of -J. M. Synge with _The Shadow of the Glen_. I wrote to Mr. Yeats, who -was then in America: “After _Shadow of the Glen_ your sisters and -Synge came in and had some supper with me. Your sister had asked one -of her work girls how she liked Synge’s comedy, and she said, ‘Oh, -very well. I had been thinking of writing a story on that subject -myself.’ They asked quite a little girl if she thought the girl in -Colum’s play ought to have stayed with her lover or gone with her -father. ‘She was right to go with her father.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because her -young man had such a big beard.’ ‘But he might have cut it off.’ -‘That would be no good. He was so dark he would look blue if he did -that.’ Saturday night brought a larger audience and all went well. -The few I knew, Harvey, etc., were quite astonished at the beauty -of _Shadowy Waters_, and some giggling young men behind were hushed -almost at once, and I heard them saying afterwards how beautiful it -was. I should like to hear it once a week through the whole year. -The only vexing part was Aibric’s helmet, which has immense horns. A -black shadow of these was thrown down, and when Aibric moved, one got -the impression there was a he-goat going to butt at him over the side -of the ship.” And again from Coole: “Synge wrote asking me if I could -provide four red petticoats, Aran men’s caps, a spinning-wheel, and -some Connacht person in Dublin who will teach the players to keen. -The last item is the most difficult. All the actors want pampooties -(the cowskin shoes worn by the Aran people), though I warned them the -smell is rather overpowering. Tell Mr. Quinn what a great comfort -his money is for such things as these, upon which the company might -think they ought not to spend their little capital, and Synge would -have been unhappy without.” Through the nuns at Gort I heard of a -spinning-wheel in a cottage some way off, which, though it had been -in her family over a hundred years, the owner wanted to sell. A cart -was sent for this, and we have had it in the theatre ever since. -As to the keening I found a Galway woman near Dublin who promised -to teach the actors. But when they arrived at her house, she found -herself unable to raise the keen in her living room. They had all -to go upstairs, and the secretary of the company had to lie under a -sheet as the corpse. The lessons were very successful, and at the -first performance in London of _Riders to the Sea_, the pit went away -keening down the street. - -Mr. Yeats said of Mr. Fay and his little company, “They did what -amateurs seldom do, worked desperately.” This was the beginning of a -native school of acting, an Irish dramatic company. - -I remember, in 1897, hearing Mr. Bernard Shaw make a speech before -the Irish Literary Society in London, following a lecture on “Irish -Actors of the Nineteenth Century.” He very wittily extinguished the -lecturer, who, he said, truly enough had enumerated the best actors -and actresses and then had gone on to say they were not Irish. “As to -what an Irishman is,” he said, “is a complex question, for wherever -he may have been born, if he has been brought up in Ireland, that is -quite sufficient to make him an Irishman. It is a mistake to think an -Irishman has not common sense. It is the Englishman who is devoid -of common sense or at least has so small a portion of it that he -can only apply it to the work immediately before him. That is why -he is obliged to fill the rest of his horizon with the humbugs and -hypocrisy that fill so large a part of English life. The Irishman has -a better grasp of facts and sees them more clearly; only he fails -in putting them into practice, and has a great objection to doing -anything that will lead to any practical result. It is a mistake to -think the Irishman has feeling; he has not; but the Englishman is -full of feeling. What the Irishman has is imagination; he can imagine -himself in the situation of others.” Then as if afraid of making the -Irish members of his audience too well pleased with themselves, he -gave his summing up: “But the Irish language is an effete language -and the nation is effete, and as to saying there are good Irish -actors, there are not, and there won’t be until the conditions in -Ireland are favourable for the production of drama, and when that day -comes, I hope I may be dead.” - -I am glad we have shown Mr. Shaw that he can be in the wrong, and -I am glad he is not dead, for he has been a good friend to us. But -our players have proved that even the wise may be deceived. They -have won much praise for themselves and have raised the dignity of -Ireland, and I for one owe them very grateful thanks for the way they -have made the characters in my comedies laugh and live. - -In May, 1903, the Irish National Theatre Society went for the first -time to London. It was hard for the actors to get away. They had -their own work to do. But they asked their employers for a whole -Saturday holiday. They left Dublin on Friday night, arrived in London -on the Saturday morning, played in the afternoon, and again in the -evening at the Queen’s Gate Hall, and were back at work in Dublin -on Monday morning. The plays taken were: Mr. Fred Ryan’s _Laying -the Foundations_, Mr. Yeats’s _Hour-glass_, _Pot of Broth_, and -_Kathleen ni Houlihan_, and my own _Twenty-five_. I was not able to -go but Mr. Yeats wrote to me: “London, May 4, ’03. The plays were a -great success. I never saw a more enthusiastic audience. I send you -some papers, all that I have found notices in. When I remember the -notices I have seen of literary adventures on the stage, I think -them better than we could have hoped.... I have noticed that the -young men, the men of my own generation or younger, are the people -who like us. It was a very distinguished audience. Blunt was there, -but went after your play as he is just recovering from influenza and -seems to be really ill. I thought your play went very well. Fay was -charming as Christy. The game of cards is still the weak place, but -with all defects, the little play has a real charm. If we could amend -the cards it would be a strong play too. Lady Aberdeen, Henry James, -Michael Field--who has sent me an enthusiastic letter about the -acting--Mrs. Wyndham--the Chief Secretary’s mother--Lord Monteagle, -Mrs. Thackeray Ritchie, and I don’t know how many other notables were -there, and all I think were moved. The evening audience was the more -Irish and _Kathleen_ and _The Pot of Broth_ got a great reception. -_The Foundations_ went well, indeed everything went well.” - -This was but the first of several London visits, and the good -audience and good notices were a great encouragement. And this visit -led also to the generous help given us by Miss Horniman. She took -what had been the old Mechanics’ Institute in Abbey Street, Dublin, -adding to it a part of the site of the old Morgue, and by rebuilding -and reconstructing turned it into what has since been known as the -Abbey Theatre, giving us the free use of it together with an annual -subsidy for a term of years. - -Miss Horniman did all this, as she says in a former letter to Mr. -Yeats, because of her “great sympathy with the artistic and dramatic -aims of the Irish National Theatre Company as publicly explained -by you on various occasions.” She also states in that letter: “I -can only afford to make a very little theatre, and it must be quite -simple. You all must do the rest to make a powerful and prosperous -theatre with a high artistic ideal.” We have kept through many -attacks and misunderstandings the high artistic ideal we set out -with. Our prosperity enabled us to take over the Abbey Theatre two -years ago when our Patent and subsidy came to an end. I feel sure -Miss Horniman is well pleased that we have been able to show our -gratitude by thus proving ourselves worthy of her great and generous -gift. - -But in Dublin a new theatre cannot be opened except under a Patent -from the Crown. This costs money even when not opposed, and if it is -opposed, the question has to be argued by counsel, and witnesses have -to be called in and examined as if some dangerous conspiracy were -being plotted. When our Patent was applied for, the other theatres -took fright and believed we might interfere with their gains, and -they opposed our application, and there was delay after delay. But -at last the enquiry was held before the Privy Council, and Mr. Yeats -wrote on its eve: “3d August, 1904. The really important things -first. This day is so hot that I have been filled with alarm lest the -lake may begin to fall again and the boat be stranded high up on the -bank and I be unable to try my new bait. I brought the boat up to a -very shallow place the day I left. I have been running about all over -the place collecting witnesses and have now quite a number. I will -wire to-morrow if there is anything definite about decision. In any -case I will write full particulars.” - -[Illustration: The Abbey Theatre, Dublin - -From a photograph by Keogh Bros., Ireland] - -“August 4th. Final decision is postponed until Monday but the battle -is won to all intents and purposes. There appears to be no difficulty -about our getting a Patent for the plays of the Society. I sent you -a paper with the report of proceedings, ---- and ----, did well -for us; but I must say I was rather amused at their anxiety to show -that they supported us not out of love for the arts but because -of our use as anti-emigration agents and the like. I think I was -a bad witness. Counsel did not examine me but asked me to make a -statement. The result was, having expected questions and feeling -myself left to wander through an immense subject, I said very little. -I was disappointed at being hardly cross-examined at all. By that -time I had got excited and was thirsting for everybody’s blood. One -barrister in cross-examining T. P. Gill, who came after me, tried -to prove that Ibsen and Maeterlinck were immoral writers. He asked -was it not true that a play by Maeterlinck called _The Intruder_ had -raised an immense outcry in London because of its immorality. Quite -involuntarily I cried out, ‘My God!’ and Edward Martyn burst into a -loud fit of laughter. I suppose he must have meant _Monna Vanna_. He -also asked if the Irish National Theatre Society had not produced a -play which was an attack on marriage. Somebody asked him what was -the name of the play. He said it didn’t matter and dropped the -subject. He had evidently heard some vague rumour about _The Shadow -of the Glen_. I forgot to say that William Fay gave his evidence -very well, as one would expect. He had the worst task of us all, -for O’Shaughnessy, a brow-beating cross-examiner of the usual kind, -fastened on to him. Fay, however, had his answer for everything.” - -The Patent was granted to me, “Dame Augusta Gregory,” as Patentee, -and in it I was amongst other things “Enjoined and commanded to -gather, entertain, govern, privilege, and keep such and so many -players,” and not to put on the stage any “exhibition of wild beasts -or dangerous performances or to allow women or children to be hung -from the flies or fixed in positions from which they cannot release -themselves.” “It being our Royal will and pleasure that for the -future our said theatre may be instrumental to the promotion of -virtue and instruction of human life.” - -The building was not ready for us until the end of the year. Mr. -Yeats wrote in August: “I have just been down to see the work on -the Abbey Theatre. It is all going very quickly and the company -should be able to rehearse there in a month. The other day, while -digging up some old rubbish in the Morgue, which is being used for -dressing-rooms, they found human bones. The workmen thought they had -lit on a murder, but the caretaker said, ‘Oh, I remember, we lost a -body about seven years ago. When the time for the inquest came, it -couldn’t be found.’” - -I remembered this when Mr. Yeats wrote to me lately from the Abbey: -“The other day at a performance of _Countess Cathleen_ one of the -players stopped in the midst of his speech and it was a moment or -two before he could go on. He told me afterwards his shoulder had -suddenly been grasped by an invisible hand.” - -When the time for the opening came, I was ill and could not leave -home, but had reports from him through the days before the opening. -“December 24, 1904. The Company are very disappointed that you will -not be up for the first night. Fay says they would all act better if -you were here.” - -“December 20, 1904. I hear from Robert that you may get up for -a little to-day. I hope you will take a long rest. I shall see -about the awning for the old woman’s stall to-night. Synge has a -photograph, which will give us a picturesque form. We changed all -the lighting on Saturday, and the costumes look much better now. In -any case everything looks so much better on the new stage. G. came -in last night with a Boer, who went to Trinity, because, so far as I -could make out, he thought he would find himself among sympathetic -surroundings. He and some other young Boers, including one who is -said to have killed more Englishmen at Spion Kop than anybody else, -had to go to a university in Europe and chose Ireland. Finding the -sort of place it is, they look at the situation with amusement and -are trying to get out more men of their own sort to form a rebellious -coterie.... I mention G., in order to say that he wants to try his -hand at translating _Œdipus the King_ for us. To-night we go on -experimenting in lighting and after that will come the great problem -of keeping the bottom of the trews from standing out like frilled -paper at the end of a ham bone.” - -And finally on the very day of the opening: “December 27, ’04. I am -confident of a fairly good start with the plays,--the stars are quiet -and fairly favourable.” - -Then after the first night, December 27th, I had good telegrams -and then a letter: “A great success in every way. The audience -seemed ‘heavy’ through the opening dialogue--Fool and Blind man--and -then it woke up, applauding for a long time after the exit of the -kings. There was great enthusiasm at the end. _Kathleen_ seemed -more rebellious than I ever heard it, and ---- solemnly begged me -to withdraw it for fear it would stir up a conspiracy and get us -all into trouble. Then came your play--a success from the first. -One could hardly hear for the applause. Fay was magnificent as the -melancholy man. The whole play was well played all through. I don’t -think I really like the stone wall wings. However, I was very near -and will know better to-night. I got a beautiful light effect in -_Baile’s Strand_, and the audience applauded the scene even before -the play began. The cottage, too, with the misty blue outside its -door is lovely. We never had such an audience or such enthusiasm. -The pit clapped when I came in. Our success could not have been -greater. Even ---- admits that your comedy [_Spreading the News_], -‘is undoubtedly going to be very popular.’” - -We worked for several years with Mr. W. Fay as producer, as manager, -as chief actor. In 1903, when all his time was needed for the -enterprise, we paid him enough to set him free from other work, a -part coming from the earnings of the Company, a part from Mr. Yeats, -and a part from myself, for we had little capital at that time, -outside £50 given by our good friend Mr. John Quinn, Attorney and -Counsellor in New York. But even large sums of money would have been -poor payment not only for William Fay’s genius and his brother’s -beautiful speaking of verse, but for their devotion to the aim and -work of the theatre, its practical and its artistic side. But they -left us early in 1908 at a time of disagreement with other members, -and of discouragement. I am very sorry that they, who more than -almost any others had laid the foundation of the Irish Theatre, did -not wait with us for its success. - -But building up an audience is a slow business when there is anything -unusual in the methods or the work. Often near midnight, after the -theatre had closed, I have gone round to the newspaper offices, -asking as a favour that notices might be put in, for we could pay for -but few advertisements and it was not always thought worth while to -send a critic to our plays. Often I have gone out by the stage door -when the curtain was up, and come round into the auditorium by the -front hall, hoping that in the dimness I might pass for a new arrival -and so encourage the few scattered people in the stalls. One night -there were so few in any part of the house that the players were for -dismissing them and giving no performance at all. But we played after -all and just after the play began, three or four priests from the -country came in. A friend of theirs and of the Abbey had gone beyond -the truth in telling them it was not a real theatre. They came round -afterwards and told us how good they thought the work and asked the -Company to come down and play in the West. Very often in the green -room I have quoted the homely proverb, heard I know not where, “Grip -is a good dog, but Hold Fast a better”! For there is some French -blood in me that keeps my spirit up, so that I see in a letter to Mr. -Yeats I am indignant at some attributions of melancholy: “I who at -church last Sunday, when I heard in the Psalms ‘Thou hast anointed -me with the joy of gladness above my fellows’, thought it must apply -to me, and that some oil of the sort must have kept me watertight -among seas of trouble.” And Mr. Yeats in his turn wrote to encourage -me in some time of attacks: “Any fool can fight a winning battle, but -it needs character to fight a losing one, and that should inspire -us; which reminds me that I dreamed the other night that I was being -hanged, but was the life and soul of the party.” - -For there was not always peace inside the theatre, and there came -from time to time that breaking and rebuilding that is in the course -of nature, and one must think all for good in the end. And so I -answered some one at a time of discord, “I am myself a lover of peace -so long as it is not the peace of a dead body.” And to Mr. Yeats I -wrote: “I am much more angry really than you are with those who have -wasted so much of your time. I look on it as child-murder. _Deirdre_ -might be in existence now but for this.” And to one who left us but -has since returned: “I want you to sit down and read Mr. Yeats’s -notes in the last two numbers of _Samhain_ and to ask yourself if -the work he is doing is best worth helping or hindering. Remember, -he has been for the last eight years working with his whole heart -and soul for the creation, the furtherance, the perfecting, of what -he believes will be a great dramatic movement in Ireland. I have -helped him all through, but we have lost many helpers by the way. -Mr. Lecky, who had served us well in getting the law passed that -made these dramatic experiments possible, publicly repudiated us -because of Mr. Yeats’s letter on the Queen’s visit.... Others were -lost for different reasons ----, ----, all of whom had been helpful -in their time. Now others are dropping off. It is always sad to lose -fellow-workers, but the work must go on all the same. ‘No man putting -his hand to the plough and drawing back is fit for the kingdom of -God.’ He is going on with it. I am going on with it as long as life -and strength are left to me.... It is hard to hold one’s own against -those one is living amongst, I have found that; and I have found that -peace comes, not from trying to please one’s neighbours but in making -up one’s own mind what is the right path and in then keeping to it. -And so God save Ireland, and believe me your sincere friend.” - -This now, according to my memory, is how I came to work for a -National Theatre in Ireland and how that Theatre began. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE BLESSING OF THE GENERATIONS - - -_On the walls of the landing outside your nursery door there are -pictures hanging, painted as you paint your own with water-colours, -but without any blot or blur. Some are of blue hills and of streams -running through brown bogs, but many of them are of young girls -and of women, barefooted and wearing home-dyed clothes, knitting -or carrying sheaves; or of fishermen dressed in white. All, girls -and women and men alike, have gentle faces. There is no sign of -the turf-smoke that dries the skin to leather. There are no lines -or wrinkles to be seen. It may be faces were like that before the -great famine came that changed soft bodies to skin and bone and -turned villages to grazing for goats. Your great-grandfather fed his -people at that time and took their sickness and died. But perhaps if -that painter were living now, he would draw likenesses in the same -way, with the furrows and ridges left out. For he could only see -gentleness like his own in whatever he had a mind to paint._ - -_A little lower on the staircase there are pictures you do not look -at now, likenesses of men not very young, who had done something that -made others like to meet them and who dined together at the Grillon -Club. Your grandfather is there with many of his friends; some of -them became friends of mine. Here is one that wrote books, you will -maybe read them bye and bye, about good men that once lived in -Ireland, and how Europe learned manners, and about witches that were -thrown into ponds._ - -_Near the library door there is a drawing of an old man. He looks -very tired and sad. He was shut up in prison for more years than -you have lived. He could not see the lime trees blooming out or the -chestnuts breaking from their husks._ - -_That is a younger man on the other wall. There is something like a -laugh in his eyes. He will live and work a long time, I hope, for the -work he has done is very good. He gave you a blessing in Irish one -time when I brought him to see you in your cot._ - - * * * * * - -Among the names on my first list of guarantors is that of Sir -Frederic Burton, painter, and for many years Director of the National -Gallery in Trafalgar Square. And this name, like that of Aubrey -de Vere, brings together movements divided by half a century; for -Frederic Burton had, through personal friendship with Thomas Davis, -come so near to that side of the National movement of 1848 which -expressed itself in writing, that he had drawn the design for the -title-page of the _Spirit of the Nation_, that book of rebel songs -and ballads. And he had known others of that time whose names have -been remembered, Ferguson and Stokes and O’Curry. It would make -my heart give a quicker beat to hear him say: “When I was in Aran -with Petrie,” or “my model for the Blind Girl at the Holy Well was -Doctor Petrie’s daughter,” or “Davis was such a dear fellow I could -refuse him nothing,” or, as an apology for not having read Mitchell’s -wonderful _Gaol Journal_, “I did not like his appearance when I saw -him. Davis took me to see him somewhere. He was a regular Northern -and did not make a good impression on me. His skin was blotched and -he had ginger-coloured hair.” Though he resented the rising fame -of Clarence Mangan, because, as he thought, it was at the expense -of Thomas Moore, “who had--though no one would class him among the -great poets--mellifluous versification, exquisite choice of language, -and was endowed at least with a delicate fancy approaching to -imagination,” the only authentic portrait of Mangan, not taken indeed -from life, but after death in an hospital, was drawn by him. - -He had wandered and painted in Germany and in the west of Ireland, -in Connemara and in his own county of Clare, till his work at the -National Gallery forced him to give up his art. But in his last days -he would often speak of his early days in the West, and of country -people he remembered, a girl near Maam who was a great singer, and a -piper, Paddy Conneely, who was the best judge of sheep and cattle in -the whole country. - -He was during the Land War when I first knew him, a very strong -Unionist, for his sensitive nature shrank from its harsh and violent -methods, and for a while he felt that he had no longer a country -to take pride in. In 1899 he wrote: “ ... I look forward with -some uneasiness to the advent of _Patriots_ from beyond sea, now -American citizens under the Stars and Stripes. With this outlook -before it, the Government is reducing the Irish Constabulary, a -most extraordinary proceeding and a quite unaccountable one except -indeed on the theory that every administration is doomed to fatuity -where Irish affairs have to be dealt with. For the police are the -appointed guardians of civil order, and however abused or resisted, -are recognised as such. But if the military have to be called out, -what a handle is given to vapourers on both sides of the Irish sea! -And what about the dismissed Constables? Will they not be thrown into -the ranks of the Patriots?” - -And in 1895 he had written, refusing an invitation to dine with me--I -cannot remember who I said was coming, but he expressed this regret: -“Especially as I enjoy meeting Sir A. and Lady Clay, and should have -liked to see a bird so rare as an _honest_ Nationalist.” Yet he kept -a spirit of independence that was akin to rebellion, even through -those years of official position and pleasant London dinners, and -friendships, and the Athenæum Club. - -During the years after the death in 1892 of my husband, who had -been a trustee of the National Gallery, and Sir Frederic’s death -in 1900, our friendship became a close one. Our talk turned very -often from pictures and Italy to Ireland. In 1897 I published _Mr. -Gregory’s Letter-box_, a political history of the years between 1812 -and 1830, taken from letters to and by my husband’s grandfather, -then Under-Secretary for Ireland. Sir Frederic was much pleased with -the book. He came to see me when he had read it and said: “I am glad -you have come down on the real culprit, George III.,” and quoted one -or two people who had said his obstinacy was the cause of so many -of Ireland’s troubles. But after a little he said very gravely: “I -see a tendency to Home Rule on your own part.” I said, “I defy any -one to study Irish History without getting a dislike and distrust -of England.” He was silent for a time and then said, “That is my -feeling,” and told me how patriotic he had been as a boy though -disliking “O’Connell and his gang.” Later he accused me of having -become “A red hot Nationalist,” and said I had no Irish blood, but I -convinced him I had, both Irish and French. - -He was as angry at the time of the Boer War as any Mayo ballad-singer -or Connacht Ranger’s wife. “According to the doctor I am better, but -really this war is killing me. It is the worst affair I recollect. -It is utterly inglorious.... I grieve particularly for our brave -Irishmen whose lives have been squandered to no purpose.” He was to -the end a Unionist, so far as his political doctrine went, but I -think his rooted passion for Ireland increased, and made, as such -strong passions are used to do, all politics seem but accidental, -transitory, a business that is outside the heart of life. - -The language movement, of which I was able to bring him news, began -to excite him. One day I found him “excited and incredulous at -Atkinson’s evidence against the Irish language, in which he says all -Irish books are filthy and all folk-lore is at bottom abominable.” -And then he got, “on your recommendation and Doctor Hyde’s reputation -as a scholar” the History of Irish Literature and wrote: “I am -reading Dr. Hyde’s Literary History with the greatest interest. It -is a high pleasure to find the matter he deals with treated by a -true scholar and in a reasonable and philosophic spirit. But indeed -the advance in this respect since my earlier days is marvellous. -At that time the comparative method was hardly, if at all, thought -of. Rabid Irishmen, who often didn’t know their own language but at -second hand, and knew no other tongue at all, spouted the rankest -absurdities. Now true light has been let in and Irish history, -archæology, literature, and poetry are the gainers. Let us not -grudge to the Germans their meed of honour in having led the way.” -And again: “I should be exceedingly sorry if the Irish language died -out of men’s mouths altogether. I look upon the loss of a language -or even a dialect as equivalent to the extirpation of a species in -natural history....” Then, in 1899: “Those addresses of Dr. Hyde -and Mr. Yeats are very interesting and, I would fain hope, may find -a response in the hearts of the people who heard them. The subject -is one full of sadness. Self-respect, a decaying language, a dying -music, how shall they be resuscitated! I could weep when I recollect -how full Munster, Connacht, and even Ulster were in my earlier -days of exquisite native music--when in fact among the peasantry -and the Irish of the towns you heard no other; when the man at the -plough-tail had his peculiar ‘whistle,’ strange, wild, and full of -melody and rhythm. All this must now have passed away irrevocably. -May the language have a better chance! I cannot tell you how much -Doctor Hyde’s book has moved me. Principally it is a manful effort.” - -When I was again in London, he showed me the Literary History close -at hand and asked me a little nervously what was Douglas Hyde’s age. -My answer, or surmise, pleased him, and he said: “Then he will be -able to work for a long time.” Once or twice, when we went on to talk -of other things, he came back to this and said, “I am so glad he is a -young man.” - -He was jealous for the honour of Ireland even in lesser things. He -was very much interested in the beginning of our theatre. In 1899 he -writes: “I am happy to sign the guarantee form for the coming year, -and enclose it. You are a dreamy lot in Erin. As you say, I think the -quality comes from the atmosphere. Here there is more of the opposite -than suits me, but I dream still, as I have done all my lifetime. -I trust there will be no shindy at the performance of _Countess -Cathleen_. But if not, our compatriots will have been for once untrue -to themselves!” And later: “I am sincerely glad the experiment was -on the whole successful and that those who intended mischief after -all made but a poor effort to inflict it.... Altogether it appears -as if the old palmy days of Dublin independent appreciation of the -drama were about to be revived in our altered times. I congratulate -Mr. Yeats on the success of the drama as an acting piece, and in -everything except ---- ----’s beautiful Irish hyperbole. I recollect -an account of a concert given at Clonmel several years ago, in -which the eloquent local journalist said of one of the amateur lady -singers, after the loftiest eulogy, ‘but it was in her last song that -Miss ---- ---- gave the _coup de grace_ to her performance.’” - -He cared very much for Mr. Yeats’s work, but I could never persuade -him to come and meet him. He always made some excuse. At last he -made a promise for one afternoon, but, in place of coming, he wrote, -saying he was half ashamed to confess to so much enthusiasm, but he -was so much under the spell of the poems that he was afraid that, in -meeting the writer, the spell might be broken. He told me when next -I saw him that of the poets he had known the only ones that did -not disappoint him were William Morris and Rossetti. “Swinburne was -excitable; Tennyson was grumpy and posing; Browning was charming as -a friend, but not fulfilling my idea of what a poet should be.” But -I did bring them together in the end, and he thanked me later and -confessed my faith had been justified. - -In 1900, during his last illness, I was often with him. I had been -away in Dublin for our plays and I find a note written after my -return to London: “Went to see Sir F. He is in bed, and I fear, or -indeed must hope, the end is very near.... I went up to see him. He -was clear but drowsy, at first a little inarticulate, but when I got -up to go, he held my hand a long time, speaking with great kindness -... asked for Robert, and how the plays had gone. I told him of -them, and of the _Times_ notice of _Maeve_, saying its idealism had -been so well received by an Irish audience, and of the notice on the -same page telling that _Tess_ in London had been jeered at by an -audience who found it too serious. He said: ‘That is just what one -would expect.’ He asked if Robert had been abroad yet, and I said -no, he was so fond of Ireland he had not cared to go until now, and -that I myself found every year an increased delight and happiness -in Ireland. He said, ‘It is so with me. My best joys have been -connected with Ireland.’ Then he spoke of Celtic influence in English -literature and said, ‘There will some day be a great Pan-Celtic -Empire.’ And so we parted.” - -I am glad that he who had been even a little moved by that stir in -the mind, that rush of revolutionary energy that moved the poets -and patriots and rebels of ’48, should after half a hundred years -have been stirred by the intellectual energy that came with a new -generation, as its imagination turned for a while from the Parliament -where all was to have been set right, after the break in the Irish -party and after Parnell’s death. - - * * * * * - -“I enclose you a guarantee paper filled up for such a sum as I can -afford (or perhaps more) to lose, but I hope there will be no loss -for anybody in the matter, while there will certainly be some gain -to Ireland! I’d have answered sooner but that I am suffering from -a horrible form of dyspepsia, with exceptional langour.” It is no -wonder if the old man who sent with this his promise for twenty -shillings was somewhat broken in health. He was the last of the -Fenian triumvirate,--Kickham, Luby, O’Leary,--and he had come back to -Dublin after fifteen years of banishment and five of penal servitude -at Portland. John O’Leary had been turning over books on the stalls -by the Seine in Paris, when one day somebody had come to him and -asked him to come back to Ireland where a rising was being planned, -and he had come. - -A part of the romance of my early days had been the whispered rumours -of servants, and the overheard talk of my elders, of the threatened -rising of the Fenians: - - “An army of Papists grim - With a green flag o’er them. - Red coats and black police - Flying before them.” - -The house of Roxborough, my old home, had once been attacked by -Whiteboys. My father had defended it, firing from the windows, and -it was not hard to believe that another attack might be made. It -seemed a good occasion for being allowed to learn to shoot with my -brothers, but that was in those days not thought fitting, even in -self-defence, for a girl, and my gun was never loaded with anything -more weighty than a coppercap. So when this new business of the -theatre brought me to meet, amongst many others till then unknown, -John O’Leary, I remembered those old days and the excitement of -a Fenian’s escape--might he not be in hiding in our own woods or -hay-lofts? And I wondered to find that not only Nationalists admired -and respected so wild and dangerous a rebel. So I asked Mr. Yeats to -tell me the reason, for he had known him well and had even shared a -lodging with him for a while; so that his friends would say: “You -have the advantage over us. O’Leary takes so long to convert to any -new thing, and you can begin with him at breakfast.” And he wrote -to me: “When John O’Leary returned from exile, he found himself in -the midst of a movement which inherited the methods of O’Connell and -a measure of his success. Journalists and politicians were alike -in his eyes untruthful men, thinking that any means that brought -the end were justified, and for that reason certain, as he thought, -to miss the end desired. The root of all was, though I doubt if he -put the thought into words, that journalists and politicians looked -for their judges among their inferiors, and assumed those opinions -and passions that moved the largest number of men. Their school is -still dominant, and John O’Leary had seen through half his life, as -we have seen, men coarsening their thought and their manners, and -exaggerating their emotions in a daily and weekly press that was -like the reverie of an hysterical woman. He was not of O’Connell’s -household. His master had been Davis, and he was quick to discover -and condemn the man who sought for judgment not among his equals or -in himself. He saw, as no one else in modern Ireland has seen, that -men who make this choice are long unpopular, all through their lives -it may be, but grow in sense and courage with their years, and have -the most gazers even in the end. - -“Yet he was not unjust to those who went the other way. He imputed -to them no bad motives, for I have heard him say of a man that -he distrusted, ‘He would not sacrifice himself but he would risk -himself,’ and of a man who seemed to him to appeal always to low -motives, the chief mischief-maker of his kind, ‘He would sacrifice -himself.’ Yet, what he himself commended with his favourite word -‘_morale_’ was the opposite of that sudden emotional self-sacrifice, -the spurious heroism of popular movements, being life-long hardness -and serenity, a choice made every day anew. He thought but little of -opinions, even those he had sacrificed so much for, and I have heard -him say, ‘There was never cause so bad that it has not been defended -by good men for good reasons.’ And of Samuel Ferguson, poet and -antiquarian, who was not of his party or any Nationalist party, ‘He -has been a better patriot than I.’ He knew that in the end, whatever -else had temporary use, it was simple things that mattered, the -things a child can understand, a man’s courage and his generosity. - -“I do not doubt that his prison life had been hard enough, but he -would not complain, having been in ‘the hands of his enemies’; and he -would often tell one of that life, but not of its hardships. A famous -popular leader of that time, who made a great noise because he was -in prison as a common felon for a political offence, made him very -angry. I said ‘It is well known that he has done this, not because -he shrinks from hardship but because there is a danger in a popular -movement that the obscure men who can alone carry it to success, may -say, “our leaders are treated differently.”’ He answered, ‘There are -things a man must not do, even to save a nation.’ And when I asked -‘What things?’ he said, ‘He must not weep in public.’ He knew that a -doctrine expediency cries out on would have but few to follow, and -he would say, ‘Michael Davitt wants his converts by the thousand. -I shall be satisfied with half a dozen.’ Most complained of his -impracticability, and there was a saying that an angel could not find -a course of action he would not discover a moral flaw in, and it is -probable that his long imprisonment and exile, while heightening his -sense of ideal law, had deprived him of initiative by taking away its -opportunities. He would often complain that the young men would not -follow him, and I once said, ‘Your power is that they do not. We can -do nothing till we have converted you; you are our conscience.’ Yet -he lived long enough to see the young men grow to middle life and -assume like their fathers before them that a good Irishman is he who -agreed with the people. Yet we, when we withstand the people, owe it -to him that we can feel we have behind us an Irish tradition. ‘My -religion,’ he would say, ‘is the old Persian one, “To pull the bow -and speak the truth.”’ - -“I do not know whether he would have liked our unpopular plays, but I -cannot imagine him growing excited because he thought them slanders -upon Ireland. O’Connell had called the Irish peasantry the finest -peasantry upon earth, and his heirs found it impossible to separate -patriotism and flattery. Again and again John O’Leary would return -to this, and I have heard him say, ‘I think it probable that the -English national character is finer than ours, but that does not make -me want to be an Englishman.’ I have often heard him defend Ireland -against one charge or another, and he was full of knowledge, but the -patriotism he had sacrificed so much for marred neither his justice -nor his scholarship. - -“He disapproved of much of Parnell’s policy, but Parnell was the -only man in Irish public life of his day who had his sympathy, and I -remember hearing some one say in those days before the split that are -growing vague to me, that Parnell never came to Dublin without seeing -him. They were perhaps alike in some hidden root of character though -the one had lived a life of power and excitement, while the other -had been driven into contemplation by circumstance and as I think by -nature. Certainly they were both proud men.” - -He was, when I knew him, living in a little room, books all around -him and books in heaps upon the floor. I would send him sometimes -snipe or golden plover from Kiltartan bog or woodcock from the hazel -woods at Coole, hoping to tempt him with something that might better -nourish the worn body than the little custard pudding that was used -to serve him for his two days’ dinner, because of that “horrible -dyspepsia” that often makes those who have been long in prison live -starving after their release, mocked with the sight of food. - -It was through reading Davis’s poems he had become a Nationalist, and -his own influence had helped to shape this other poet in the same -fashion, for from the time of Yeats’s boyhood there had been a close -friendship between them, the old man admiring the young man’s genius, -and taking his side in the quarrels that arose about patriotism in -poetry and the like. I remember their both dining with me one evening -in London and coming on to see a very poor play, very badly acted by -some Irish society. At its end Yeats was asked to say some words of -gratitude for the performance, during which we had all felt impatient -and vexed. He did speak at some length, and held his audience, and -without telling any untruth left them feeling that all had gone well. -John O’Leary turned to me and said fervently, “I don’t think there -is anything on God’s earth that Willie Yeats could not make a speech -about!” - -There is a bust of John O’Leary in the Municipal Gallery. The grand -lines of the massive head, the eyes full of smouldering fire, might -be those of some ancient prophet understanding his people’s doom. - - * * * * * - -There is nothing of storm or unrest about that other Dublin monument, -that bronze figure sitting tranquilly within the gates of Trinity -College and within its quadrangle. Lecky was the reasoner, the -philosopher, the looker-on, writing his histories, even of Ireland, -through the uproar of the Land War with the same detachment as did -the Four Masters, writing their older history amongst the wars and -burnings of the seventeenth century that were so terrible in Ireland. - -He had been a debater while an undergraduate of Trinity, and it was -fitting that he should have represented it in Parliament during his -last years. - -Trinity, where Wolfe Tone had been an undergraduate a hundred years -earlier had changed in that hundred years. I was in Paris in 1900 and -went to see an old acquaintance, that most imaginative archæologist, -Salomon Reinach. He told me he had been lately to Ireland and he -had been astonished by two things, the ignorance of the Irish -language--it was not known even by the head of the Dublin Museum or -the head of its archæological side--and by the hostility of Trinity -College to all things Irish. “It is an English fort, nothing else.” -“Its garrison,” the students, had gone out and broken the windows of -a newspaper office while he was there, and he had spent an evening -with Doctor Mahaffy, who was “much astonished that I was no longer -taken up with Greek things, and that I found Irish antiquity so much -more interesting.” - -I have already told of Lecky’s help to our theatre. He had a real -affection for his country, but was not prone to join societies or -leagues. He had given us his name as one of our first guarantors, -offering £5 instead of the £1 I had asked. But he publicly withdrew -his name later, without his usual reasonableness, because of letters -written by Mr. Yeats and Mr. George Moore at the time of Queen -Victoria’s visit to Dublin. This had been announced as a private -visit, and Nationalists had promised a welcome. Then it was turned -into a public one, and there was a good deal of angry feeling, and -it seemed as if the theatre--although quite outside politics--would -suffer for a while. Though Mr. Yeats, wrote: “I don’t think you need -be anxious about next year’s theatre. Clever Unionists will take us -on our merits, and the rest would never like us at any time. I have -found a greatly increased friendliness on the part of some of the -younger men here. In a battle like Ireland’s, which is one of poverty -against wealth, one must prove one’s sincerity by making oneself -unpopular to wealth. One must accept the baptism of the gutter. Have -not all teachers done the like?” I answered that I preferred the -baptism of clean water. I was troubled by the misunderstanding of -friends. - -Trinity College is not keeping aloof now, and as to Mr. Lecky -himself, the House of Commons took away some prejudices. He spoke -to me of Mr. John Redmond and his leadership with great admiration -and esteem. I find a note written after a pleasant dinner with him -and Mrs. Lecky in Onslow Gardens: “He grieved over the exaggerated -statements of the financial reformers. I pressed Land Purchase as the -solution of our trouble, but he says what is true, ‘It means changing -every hundred pounds into seventy.’ Talking of Robert’s future, he -said, ‘It is a great thing to have a competence behind one.’ He said -he had been brought up for the Church, but found he could not enter -it, and went abroad and drifted, never thinking he would marry, and -leading a solitary life, and so took to letters and succeeded. He -thinks Parliament lessens one’s interest in political questions,--so -much connected with them is of no value, and there is so much empty -noise.” - -I often heard of his speaking well and even boasting of our Theatre -and its work, but though he often came to see me, he would not quite -give up fault-finding. “Dined at Lecky’s; he rather cross. He took -me down to dinner and said first thing, ‘What silly speeches your -Celtic people have been making.’ ‘Moore?’ I asked. ‘Yes, and Yeats. -Oh, very silly!’ He is in bad humour because Blackrock, which he has -known, and known to speak English all his life, has sent him a copy -of resolutions in favour of the revival of Irish. In revenge I told -him how a Deputy Lieutenant (Edward Martyn) was proclaiming himself a -convert to Nationalism through reading his _Leaders of Public Opinion -in Ireland_. But that book, he used to say, had been a long time in -influencing anybody, for of its first edition only thirty copies had -been sold.” - -He forgave us all after a while, used to come and ask for news -whenever I had come to London from home, and told me quite proudly -after a visit to Oxford that the undergraduates there accepted no -living poet but Yeats. But to the last he would say to me plaintively -on parting, “Do not do anything incendiary when you go back to -Ireland.” - - * * * * * - -My first meeting with Douglas Hyde had been when he came in one day -with a broken bicycle during lunch at my neighbour Mr. Martyn’s -house where I was staying. He had been coming by train, but had got -out at a village, Craughwell (as I myself did a good while afterwards -on the same errand), in search of memories of Raftery, the Connacht -poet. I had my own pony carriage with me, and that afternoon I drove -to the Round Tower and the seven churches of Kilmacduagh, taking with -me Douglas Hyde and Mr. William Sharp, whom I even then suspected -of being “Fiona Macleod.” Mr. Sharp--not by my invitation--took the -place beside me, and left the back seat for the poet-dramatist, the -founder of the Gaelic League of Ireland. - -He often came to stay with me and my son at Coole after that. The -first time was in winter, for a shooting party. Some old ladies--our -neighbours--asked our keeper who our party was, and on hearing that -one was a gentleman who spoke to the beaters in Irish, they said, -“he can not be a gentleman if he speaks Irish.” With all his culture -and learning, his delight was in talking with the people and hearing -their poems and fragments of the legends. I remember one day, he -went into a thatched cottage to change his boots after shooting -snipe on Kilmacduagh bog, and talked with an old woman who had not -much English and who welcomed him when he spoke in her own tongue. -But when she heard he was from Mayo, looked down on by dwellers in -Galway, she laughed very much and repeated a line of a song in Irish -which runs: - -“There’ll be boots on me yet, says the man from the county Mayo!” - -Near Kilmacduagh also he was told a long story, having Aristotle for -its hero. Sometimes he was less lucky. I brought an old man to see -him, I was sure could give him stories. But he only told one of a -beggar who went to Castle ----, a neighbouring house, the master of -which had given him a half-penny, saying, “that is for my father’s -and mother’s soul.” “And the beggar added another half-penny to it, -and laid it down on the step, and, ‘There’s a half-penny for my -father’s soul and a half-penny for my mother’s, and I wouldn’t go to -the meanness of putting them both in one.’” - -He has done his work by methods of peace, by keeping quarrels out -of his life, with all but entire success. I find in a letter to -Mr. Yeats: “I will send you Claideam that you may see some of the -attacks by recalcitrant Gaelic Leaguers on the Craoibhin. Well, I am -sorry, but if he can’t keep from making enemies, what chance is there -for the like of us?” - -He was one of the vice-presidents of our Society for a while and we -are always grateful to him for that _Twisting of the Rope_ in which -he played with so much gaiety, ease, and charm. But in founding the -Gaelic League, he had done far more than that for our work. It was -a movement for keeping the Irish language a spoken one, with, as -a chief end, the preserving of our own nationality. That does not -sound like the beginning of a revolution, yet it was one. It was the -discovery, the disclosure of the folk-learning, the folk-poetry, the -folk-tradition. Our Theatre was caught into that current, and it is -that current, as I believe, that has brought it on its triumphant -way. It is chiefly known now as a folk-theatre. It has not only the -great mass of primitive material and legend to draw on, but it has -been made a living thing by the excitement of that discovery. All our -writers, Mr. Yeats himself, were influenced by it. Mr. Synge found -what he had lacked before--fable, emotion, style. Writing of him I -have said “He tells what he owes to that collaboration with the -people, and for all the attacks, he has given back to them what they -will one day thank him for.... The return to the people, the reunion -after separation, the taking and giving, is it not the perfect -circle, the way of nature, the eternal wedding-ring?” - - - - -CHAPTER III - -PLAY-WRITING - - -When we first planned our Theatre, there were very few plays to -choose from, but our faith had no bounds and as the Irish proverb -says, “When the time comes, the child comes.” - -The plays that I have cared for most all through, and for love of -which I took up this work, are those verse ones by Mr. Yeats _The -Countess Cathleen_ with which we began, _The Shadowy Waters_, _The -King’s Threshold_, and the rest. They have sometimes seemed to go -out of sight because the prose plays are easier to put on and to -take from place to place; yet they will always be, if I have my way, -a part of our year’s work. I feel verse is more than any prose can -be, the apex of the flame, the point of the diamond. The well-to-do -people in our stalls sometimes say, “We have had enough of verse -plays, give us comedy.” But the people in the sixpenny places do -not say they get too much of them, and the players themselves work -in them with delight. I wrote to Mr. Yeats when _On Bath’s Strand_ -was being rehearsed: “Just back from rehearsal, and cheered up on -the whole. The Molière goes very well, and will be quite safe when -the two servants have been given a little business. Synge says it -was quite different to-night. They all waked up in honour of me. As -to _Baile’s Strand_, it will be splendid.... The only real blot at -present is the song, and it is very bad. The three women repeat it -together. Their voices don’t go together. One gets nervous listening -for the separate ones. No one knows how you wish it done. Every one -thinks the words ought to be heard. I got Miss Allgood to speak it -alone, and that was beautiful, and we thought if it didn’t delay -the action too long, she might speak it, and at the end she and the -others might sing or hum some lines of it to a definite tune. If you -can quite decide what should be done, you can send directions, but if -you are doubtful, I almost think you must come over. You mustn’t risk -spoiling the piece. It is quite beautiful. W. Fay most enthusiastic, -says you are a wonderful man, and keeps repeating lines. He says, -‘There is nothing like that being written in London.’” - -But the listeners, and this especially when they are lovers of verse, -have to give so close an attention to the lines, even when given -their proper value and rhythm as by our players, that ear and mind -crave ease and unbending, and so comedies were needed to give this -rest. That is why I began writing them, and it is still my pride when -one is thought worthy to be given in the one evening with the poetic -work. - -I began by writing bits of dialogue, when wanted. Mr. Yeats used to -dictate parts of _Diarmuid and Grania_ to me, and I would suggest a -sentence here and there. Then I, as well as another, helped to fill -spaces in _Where There is Nothing_. Mr. Yeats says in dedicating it -to me: “I offer you a book which is in part your own. Some months -ago, when our Irish dramatic movement took its present form, I saw -that somebody must write a number of plays in prose if it was to have -a good start. I did not know what to do, although I had my dramatic -fables ready and a pretty full sketch of one play, for my eyes were -troubling me, and I thought I could do nothing but verse, which one -can carry about in one’s head for a long time, and write down, as -De Musset put it, with a burnt match. You said I might dictate to -you, and we worked in the mornings at Coole, and I never did anything -that went so easily and quickly; for when I hesitated you had the -right thought ready and it was almost always you who gave the right -turn to the phrase and gave it the ring of daily life. We finished -several plays, of which this is the longest, in so few weeks that if -I were to say how few, I do not think anybody would believe me.” - -[Illustration: Miss Sara Allgood - -From a drawing by Robert Gregory] - -_Where There is Nothing_ was given by the Stage Society in London, -but Mr. Yeats was not satisfied with it, and we have since re-written -it as _The Unicorn from the Stars_. Yet it went well and was vital. -It led to an unexpected result: “I hear that some man of a fairly -respectable class was taken up with a lot of tinkers somewhere in -Munster, and that the Magistrate compared him to ‘Paul Ruttledge.’ -The next night one of the tinkers seems to have said something to the -others about their being in a book. The others resented this in some -way, and there was a fight, which brought them all into Court again. -I am trying to get the papers.” - -Later in the year we wrote together _Kathleen ni Houlihan_ and to -that he wrote an introductory letter addressed to me: “One night -I had a dream almost as distinct as a vision, of a cottage where -there was well-being and firelight and talk of a marriage, and into -the midst of that cottage there came an old woman in a long cloak. -She was Ireland herself, that Kathleen ni Houlihan for whom so many -songs have been sung and for whose sake so many have gone to their -death. I thought if I could write this out as a little play, I could -make others see my dream as I had seen it, but I could not get down -from that high window of dramatic verse, and in spite of all you had -done for me, I had not the country speech. One has to live among the -people, like you, of whom an old man said in my hearing, ‘She has -been a serving maid among us,’ before one can think the thoughts -of the people and speak with their tongue. We turned my dream into -the little play, _Kathleen ni Houlihan_, and when we gave it to the -little theatre in Dublin and found that the working people liked it, -you helped me to put my other dramatic fables into speech.” - -For _The Pot of Broth_ also I wrote dialogue and I worked as well at -the plot and the construction of some of the poetic plays, especially -_The King’s Threshold_ and _Deirdre_; for I had learned by this time -a good deal about play-writing to which I had never given thought -before. I had never cared much for the stage, although when living a -good deal in London, my husband and I went, as others do, to see some -of each season’s plays. I find, in looking over an old diary, that -many of these have quite passed from my mind, although books I read -ever so long ago, novels and the like, have left at least some faint -trace by which I may recognise them. - -We thought at our first start it would make the whole movement more -living and bring it closer to the people if the Gaelic League would -put on some plays written in Irish. Dr. Hyde thought well of the -idea, and while staying here at Coole, as he did from time to time, -he wrote _The Twisting of the Rope_, based on one of Mr. Yeats’s -Hanrahan stories; _The Lost Saint_ on a legend given its shape by Mr. -Yeats, and _The Nativity_ on a scenario we wrote together for him. -Afterwards he wrote _The Marriage_ and _The Poorhouse_, upon in each -case a scenario written by me. I betray no secret in telling this, -for Dr. Hyde has made none of the collaboration, giving perhaps too -generous acknowledgment, as in Galway, where he said, when called -before the curtain after _The Marriage_, that the play was not his -but that Lady Gregory had written it and brought it to him, saying -“_Cur Gaedilge air_,” “Put Irish on it.” I find in a letter of mine -to Mr. Yeats: “Thanks for sending back Raftery. I haven’t sent it -to Hyde yet. The real story was that Raftery by chance went into a -house where such a wedding was taking place ‘that was only a marriage -and not a wedding’ and where there was ‘nothing but a herring for -the dinner,’ and he made a song about it and about all the imaginary -grand doings at it that has been remembered ever since. But it didn’t -bring any practical good to the young people, for Raftery himself -‘had to go to bed in the end without as much as a drop to drink, but -he didn’t mind that, where they hadn’t it to give.’” - -But it went through some changes after that: “I have a letter from -the Craoibhin. He has lost his Trinity College play and must re-write -it from my translation. He is not quite satisfied with Raftery (_The -Marriage_). ‘I don’t think Maire’s uncertainty if it be a ghost or -not is effective on the stage. I would rather have the ghost “out -and out” as early as possible, and make it clear to the audience.’ I -rather agree with him. I think I will restore the voice at the door -in my published version.” - -And again I wrote from Galway: “I came here yesterday for a few days’ -change, but the journey, or the little extra trouble at leaving, set -my head aching, and I had to spend all yesterday in a dark room. -In the evening, when the pain began to go, I began to think of the -Raftery play, and I want to know if this end would do. After the -miser goes out, Raftery stands up and says, ‘I won’t be the only -one in the house to give no present to the woman of the house,’ and -hands her the plate of money, telling them to count it. While they -are all gathered round counting it, he slips quietly from the door. -As he goes out, wheels or horse steps are heard, and a farmer comes -in and says, ‘What is going on? All the carts of the country gathered -at the door, and Seaghan, the Miser, going swearing down the road?’ -They say it is a wedding party called in by Raftery. But where is -Raftery? Is he gone? They ask the farmer if he met him outside--the -poet Raftery--and he says, ‘I did not, but I stood by his grave at -Killeenin yesterday.’ Do you think that better? It gets rid of the -good-byes and the storm, and I don’t think any amount of hints convey -the ghostly idea strongly enough. Let me know at once; just a word -will do.” - -As to _The Poorhouse_, the idea came from a visit to Gort Workhouse -one day when I heard that the wife of an old man, who had been long -there, maimed by something, a knife I think, that she had thrown at -him in a quarrel, had herself now been brought in to the hospital. -I wondered how they would meet, as enemies or as friends, and I -thought it likely they would be glad to end their days together for -old sake’s sake. This is how I wrote down my fable: “Scene, ward of -a workhouse; two beds containing the old men; they are quarrelling. -Occupants of other invisible beds are heard saying, ‘There they are -at it again; they are always quarrelling.’ They say the matron will -be coming to call for order, but another says the matron has been -sent for to see somebody who wants to remove one of the paupers. -Both old men wish they could be removed from each other and have the -whole ridge of the world between them. The fight goes on. One old man -tells the other that he remembers the time he used to be stealing -ducks, and he a boy at school. The other old man remembers the time -his neighbour was suspected of going to Souper’s school, etc., etc. -They remember the crimes of each other’s lives. They fight like two -young whelps that go on fighting till they are two old dogs. At last -they take their pillows and throw them at each other. Other paupers -(invisible) cheer and applaud. Then they take their porringers, -pipes, prayer-books, or whatever is in reach, to hurl at each other. -They lament the hard fate that has put them in the same ward for five -years and in beds next each other for the last three months, and -they after being enemies the whole of their lives. Suddenly a cry -that the matron is coming. They settle themselves hurriedly. Each -puts his enemy’s pillow under his head and lies down. The matron -comes in with a countrywoman comfortably dressed. She embraces one -old man. She is his sister. Her husband died from her lately and she -is lonesome and doesn’t like to think of her brother being in the -workhouse. If he is bedridden itself, he would be company for her. -He is delighted, asks what sort of house she has. She says, a good -one, a nice kitchen, and he can be doing little jobs for her. He can -be sitting in a chair beside the fire and stirring the stirabout for -her and throwing a bit of food to the chickens when she is out in the -field. He asks when he can go. She says she has the chance of a lift -for him on a neighbour’s cart. He can come at once. He says he will -make no delay. A loud sob from the old man in the other bed. He says, -‘Is it going away you are, you that I knew through all my lifetime, -and leaving me among strangers?’ The first old man asks his sister if -she will bring him too. She is indignant, says she won’t. First old -man says maybe he’d be foolish to go at all. How does he know if he’d -like it. She says, he is to please himself; if he doesn’t come, she -can easily get a husband, having, as she has, a nice way of living, -and three lambs going to the next market. The first man says, well, -he won’t go; if she would bring the other old man, he would go. She -turns her back angrily. Paupers in other beds call out she’ll find -a good husband amongst them. She pulls on her shawl scornfully to -go away. She gives her brother one more chance; he says he won’t go. -She says good-bye and bad luck to him. She leaves. He says that man -beyond would be lonesome with no one to contradict him. The other -man says he would not. The first man says, ‘You want some one to be -arguing with you always.’ The second man, ‘I do not.’ The first man -says, ‘You are at your lies again.’ The second takes up his pillow to -heave at him again. Curtain falls on two men arming themselves with -pillows.” - -I intended to write the full dialogue myself, but Mr. Yeats thought -a new Gaelic play more useful for the moment, and rather sadly I -laid that part of the work upon Dr. Hyde. It was all for the best in -the end, for the little play, when we put it on at the Abbey, did -not go very well. It seemed to ravel out into loose ends, and we did -not repeat it; nor did the Gaelic players like it as well as _The -Marriage_ and _The Lost Saint_. After a while, when the Fays had left -us, I wanted a play that would be useful to them, and with Dr. Hyde’s -full leave I re-wrote the _Poorhouse_ as _The Workhouse Ward_. I -had more skill by that time, and it was a complete re-writing, for -the two old men in the first play had been talking at an imaginary -audience of other old men in the ward. When this was done away with -the dialogue became of necessity more closely knit, more direct -and personal, to the great advantage of the play, although it was -rejected as “too local” by the players for whom I had written it. -The success of this set me to cutting down the number of parts in -later plays until I wrote _Grania_ with only three persons in it, and -_The Bogie Men_ with only two. I may have gone too far, and have, I -think, given up an intention I at one time had of writing a play for -a man and a scarecrow only, but one has to go on with experiment or -interest in creation fades, at least so it is with me. - -In 1902, my _Twenty-five_ was staged; a rather sentimental comedy, -not very amusing. It was useful at the time when we had so few, but -it was weak, ending, as did for the most part the Gaelic plays that -began to be written, in a piper and a dance. I tried to get rid of it -afterwards by writing _The Jackdaw_ on the same idea, but in which -I make humour lay the ghost of sentiment. But _Twenty-five_ may yet -be re-written and come to a little life of its own. _Spreading the -News_ was played at the opening of the Abbey Theatre, December 27, -1904. I heard it attacked at that time on the ground that Irish -people never were gossips to such an extent, but it has held its own, -and our audiences have had their education as well as writers and -players, and know now that a play is a selection not a photograph and -that the much misquoted “mirror to nature” was not used by its author -or any good play-writer at all. - -Perhaps I ought to have written nothing but these short comedies, but -desire for experiment is like fire in the blood, and I had had from -the beginning a vision of historical plays being sent by us through -all the counties of Ireland. For to have a real success and to come -into the life of the country, one must touch a real and eternal -emotion, and history comes only next to religion in our country. -And although the realism of our young writers is taking the place -of fantasy and romance in the cities, I still hope to see a little -season given up every year to plays on history and in sequence at the -Abbey, and I think schools and colleges may ask to have them sent and -played in their halls, as a part of the day’s lesson. I began with -the daring and lightheartedness of a schoolboy to write a tragedy in -three acts upon a great personality, Brian the High King. I made many -bad beginnings, and if I had listened to Mr. Yeats’s advice I should -have given it up, but I began again and again till it was at last -moulded in at least a possible shape. It went well with our audience. -There was some enthusiasm for it, being the first historical play -we had produced. An old farmer came up all the way from Kincora, -the present Killaloe, to see it, and I heard he went away sad at -the tragic ending. He said, “Brian ought not to have married that -woman. He should have been content with a nice, quiet girl from his -own district.” For stormy treacherous Gormleith of many husbands had -stirred up the battle that brought him to his death. _Dervorgilla_ I -wrote at a time when circumstances had forced us to accept an English -stage-manager for the Abbey. I was very strongly against this. I -felt as if I should be spoken of some day as one who had betrayed -her country’s trust. I wrote so vehemently and sadly to Mr. Yeats -about it that he might have been moved from the path of expediency, -which I now think was the wise one, had the letter reached him in -time, but it lay with others in the Kiltartan letter-box during a -couple of weeks, Christmas time or the wintry weather giving an -excuse to the mail-car driver whose duty it is to clear the box -as he nightly passed it by. So he wrote: “I think we should take -Vedrenne’s recommendation unless we have some strong reason to the -contrary. If the man is not Irish, we cannot help it. If the choice -is between filling our country’s stomach or enlarging its brains by -importing precise knowledge, I am for scorning its stomach for the -present.... I should have said that I told Vedrenne that good temper -is essential, and he said the man he has recommended is a vegetarian -and that Bernard Shaw says that vegetables are wonderful for the -temper.” - -Mr. Synge had something of my feeling about alien management. He -wrote later: “The first show of ---- was deplorable. It came out as a -bastard literary pantomime, put on with many of the worst tricks of -the English stage. That is the end of all the Samhain principles and -this new tradition that we were to lay down! I felt inclined to walk -out of the Abbey and go back no more. The second Saturday was much -less offensive. ---- is doing his best obviously and he may perhaps -in time come to understand our methods.” - - * * * * * - -To come back to play-writing, I find in a letter to Mr. Yeats. “You -will be amused to hear that although, or perhaps because, I had -evolved out of myself ‘Mr. Quirke’ as a conscious philanthropist, an -old man from the workhouse told me two days ago that he had been a -butcher of Quirke’s sort and was quite vainglorious about it, telling -me how many staggery sheep and the like he had killed, that would, -if left to die, have been useless or harmful. ‘But I often stuck -a beast and it kicking yet and life in it, so that it could do no -harm to a Christian or a dog or an animal.’” And later: “Yet another -‘Mr. Quirke’ has been to see me. He says there are no sick pigs now, -because they are all sent off to ... no, I mustn’t give the address. -Has not a purgatory been imagined where writers find themselves -surrounded by the characters they have created?” - -The _Canavans_, as I say in a note to it, was “written I think less -by logical plan than in one of those moments of lightheartedness -that, as I think, is an inheritance from my great-grandmother Frances -Algoin, a moment of that ‘sudden Glory, the Passion which maketh -those Grimaces called Laughter.’ Some call it farce, some like it the -best of my comedies. This very day, October 16th, I have been sent -a leaf from the examination papers of the new University, in which -the passage chosen from literature to ‘put Irish on’ is that speech -of Peter Canavan’s beginning. ‘Would any one now think it a thing to -hang a man for, that he had striven to keep himself safe?’” - -But we never realise our dreams. I think it was _The Full Moon_ that -was in the making when I wrote: “I am really getting to work on a -little comedy, of which I think at present that if its feet are of -clay, its high head will be of rubbed gold, and that people will stop -and dance when they hear it and not know for a while the piping was -from beyond the world! But no doubt if it ever gets acted, it will be -‘what Lady Gregory calls a comedy and everybody else, a farce!’” - -The _Deliverer_ is a crystallising of the story, as the people -tell it, of Parnell’s betrayal. Only yesterday some beggar from -Crow Lane, the approach to Gort, told me he heard one who had been -Parnell’s friend speak against him at the time of the split: “He -brought down O’Shea’s wife on him and said he was not fit to be left -at large. The people didn’t like that and they hooted him and he was -vexed and said he could buy up the whole of them for half a glass -of porter!” I may look on _The Rising of the Moon_ as an historical -play, as my history goes, for the scene is laid in the historical -time of the rising of the Fenians in the sixties. But the real fight -in the play goes on in the sergeant’s own mind, and so its human side -makes it go as well in Oxford or London or Chicago as in Ireland -itself. But Dublin Castle finds in it some smell of rebellion and has -put us under punishment for its sins. When we came back from America -last March, we had promised to give a performance on our first day in -Dublin and _The Rising of the Moon_ was one of the plays announced. -But the stage costumes had not yet arrived, and we sent out to hire -some from a depot from which the cast uniforms of the Constabulary -may be lent out to the companies performing at the theatres--the -Royal, the Gaiety, and the Queens. But our messenger came back -empty-handed. An order had been issued by the authorities that “no -clothes were to be lent to the Abbey because _The Rising of the Moon_ -was derogatory to His Majesty’s forces.” So we changed the bill and -put on the _Workhouse Ward_, in which happily a quilt and blanket -cover any deficiency of clothes. - -We wanted to put on some of Molière’s plays. They seemed akin to our -own. But when one translation after another was tried, it did not -seem to carry, to “go across the footlights.” So I tried putting one -into our own Kiltartan dialect, _The Doctor in Spite of Himself_, -and it went very well. I went on, therefore, and translated _Scapin_ -and _The Miser_. Our players give them with great spirit; the chief -parts--Scapin, Harpagon, and Frosine--could hardly be bettered in any -theatre. I confess their genius does not suit so well the sentimental -and artificial young lovers. - -Mr. Yeats wrote from Paris: “Dec. 19, ’08, I saw two days ago a -performance of _Scapin_ at the Odeon. I really like our own better. -It seemed to me that a representation so traditional in its type as -that at the Odeon has got too far from life, as we see it, to give -the full natural pleasure of comedy. It was much more farcical than -anything we have ever done. I have recorded several pieces of new -business and noted costumes which were sometimes amusing. The acting -was amazingly skilful and everything was expressive in the extreme. -I noticed one difference between this production and ours which -almost shocked me, so used am I to our own ways. There were cries -of pain and real tears. Scapin cried when his master threatened him -in the first act, and the old man, beaten by the supposed bully, -was obviously very sore. I have always noticed that with our people -there is never real suffering even in tragedy. One felt in the French -comedians an undercurrent of passion--passion which our people never -have. I think we give in comedy a kind of fancifulness and purity.” - -It is the existence of the Theatre that has created play-writing -among us. Mr. Boyle had written stories, and only turned to plays -when he had seen our performances in London. Mr. Colum claimed to -have turned to drama for our sake, and Mr. Fitzmaurice, Mr. Ray, and -Mr. Murray--a National schoolmaster--would certainly not have written -but for that chance of having their work acted. A. E. wrote to me: -“I think the Celtic Theatre will emerge all right, for if it is not a -manifest intention of the gods that there should be such a thing, why -the mania for writing drama which is furiously absorbing our Irish -writers?” And again almost sadly: “Would it be inconvenient for me to -go to Coole on Monday next ...? I am laying in a stock of colours and -boards for painting and hope the weather will keep up. I hear Synge -is at Coole, and as an astronomer of human nature, calculating the -probable effect of one heavenly body on another which is invisible, -I suppose W. B. Y. is at drama again and that the summer of verse is -given over.” - -I asked Mr. Lennox Robinson how he had begun, and he said he had seen -our players in Cork, and had gone away thinking of nothing else than -to write a play for us to produce. He wrote and sent us _The Clancy -Name_. We knew nothing of him, but saw there was good stuff in the -play, and sent it back with suggestions for strengthening it and -getting rid of some unnecessary characters. He altered it and we put -it on. Then he wrote a three-act play _The Cross Roads_, but after -he had seen it played he took away the first act, making it a far -better play, for it is by seeing one’s work on the stage that one -learns best. Then he wrote _Harvest_ with three strong acts, and this -year _Patriots_, which has gone best of all. - -One of our heaviest tasks had been reading the plays sent in. For -some years Mr. Yeats and I read every one of these; but now a -committee reports on them first and sends back those that are quite -impossible with a short printed notice: - - “The Reading Committee of the National Theatre Society regret to - say that the enclosed play, which you kindly submitted to them, - is, for various reasons, not suitable for production by the Abbey - Company.” - -If a play is not good enough to produce, but yet shows some skill in -construction or dialogue, we send another printed form written by Mr. -Yeats: - - “ADVICE TO PLAYWRIGHTS WHO ARE SENDING PLAYS TO THE ABBEY, DUBLIN. - - The Abbey Theatre is a subsidised theatre with an educational - object. It will, therefore, be useless as a rule to send it plays - intended as popular entertainments and that alone, or originally - written for performance by some popular actor at the popular - theatres. A play to be suitable for performance at the Abbey - should contain some criticism of life, founded on the experience - or personal observation of the writer, or some vision of life, of - Irish life by preference, important from its beauty or from some - excellence of style; and this intellectual quality is not more - necessary to tragedy than to the gayest comedy. - - “We do not desire propagandist plays, nor plays written mainly - to serve some obvious moral purpose; for art seldom concerns - itself with those interests or opinions that can be defended by - argument, but with realities of emotion and character that become - self-evident when made vivid to the imagination. - - “The dramatist should also banish from his mind the thought that - there are some ingredients, the love-making of the popular stage - for instance, especially fitted to give dramatic pleasure; for any - knot of events, where there is passionate emotion and clash of - will, can be made the subject matter of a play, and the less like - a play it is at the first sight the better play may come of it in - the end. Young writers should remember that they must get all their - effects from the logical expression of their subject, and not by - the addition of extraneous incidents; and that a work of art can - have but one subject. A work of art, though it must have the effect - of nature, is art because it is not nature, as Goethe said: and it - must possess a unity unlike the accidental profusion of nature. - - “The Abbey Theatre is continually sent plays which show that their - writers have not understood that the attainment of this unity by - what is usually a long shaping and reshaping of the plot, is the - principal labour of the dramatist, and not the writing of the - dialogue. - - “Before sending plays of any length, writers would often save - themselves some trouble by sending a ‘Scenario,’ or scheme of the - plot, together with one completely written act and getting the - opinion of the Reading Committee as to its suitability before - writing the whole play.” - -I find a note from Mr. Yeats: “Some writer offers us a play which -‘unlike those at the Abbey,’ he says, is so constructed as to -admit any topic or a scene laid in any country. It will under the -circumstances, he says, ‘do good to all.’ I am sending him ‘Advice to -Playwrights.’” - -The advice was not always gratefully received. I wrote to Mr. Yeats: -“Such an absurd letter in the _Cork Sportsman_, suggesting that -you make all other dramatists rewrite their plays to hide your own -idiosyncrasy!” - -If a play shows real promise and a mind behind it, we write -personally to the author, making criticisms and suggestions. We were -accused for a while of smothering the work of young writers in order -that we might produce our own, but time has done away with that -libel, and we are very proud of the school of drama that has come -into being through the creation of our Theatre. We were advised also -to put on more popular work, work that would draw an audience for the -moment from being topical, or because the author had friends in some -league. But we went on giving what we thought good until it became -popular. I wrote once, thinking we had yielded over much: “I am sorry -----’s play has been so coldly received (a play that has since become -a favourite one), but I think it is partly our own fault. It would -have got a better welcome a year ago. We have been humouring our -audience instead of educating it, which is the work we ought to do. -It is not only giving so much ---- and ----, it is the want of good -work pressed on, and I believe the want of verse, which they respect -anyhow.... I think the pressing on of Synge’s two plays the best -thing we can do for this season. We have a great backing now in his -reputation. In the last battle, when we cried up his genius, we were -supposed to do it for our own interest.... I only read Gerothwohl’s -speech after you left, and thought that sentence most excellent about -the theatre he was connected with being intended ‘for art and a -thinking Democracy.’ It is just what we set out to do, and now we are -giving in to stupidity in a Democracy. I think the sentence should be -used when we can.” - -One at least of the many gloomy prophecies written to Mr. Yeats -at some time of trouble has not come true: “I am giving you the -situation as it appears to me. Remember there is ---- and ---- and -----. An amalgamation of all the dissentients with a Gaelic dramatic -society would leave Synge, Lady Gregory, and Boyle with yourself, -and none of these have drawing power in Dublin.... You who initiated -the theatre movement in Ireland, will be out of it.” - -Neither Mr. Yeats nor I take the writing of our plays lightly. We -work hard to get clearly both fable and idea. _The Travelling Man_ -was first my idea and then we wrote it together. Then Mr. Yeats wrote -a variant of it as a Pagan play, _The Black Horse_, and to this we -owe the song, “There’s many a strong farmer whose heart would break -in two.” It did not please him however, and then I worked it out in -my own way. I wrote to him: “I am not sure about your idea, for if -the Stranger wanted the child to be content with the things near him, -why did he make the image of the Garden of Paradise and ride to it? I -am more inclined to think the idea is the soul having once seen the -Christ, the Divine Essence, must always turn back to it again. One -feels sure the child will though all its life. And the mother, with -all her comforts, has never been quite satisfied, because she wants -to see the Christ again. But the earthly side of her built up the -dresser, and the child will build up other earthly veils; yet never -be quite satisfied. What do you think?” - -And again: “I am trying so hard to get to work on a play and first -excuses came--Thursday headache; now I feel myself longing to take -over the saw-mill, which has stopped with the head sawyer’s departure -and only wants a steady superintendent; or to translate _L’Avare_ -or the Irish fairy tales, or anything rather than creative work! -You feel just the same with the Theatre; anything that is more or -less external administration is so easy! Why were we not born to be -curators of museums?” - -At another time he writes: “Every day up to this I have worked at -my play in the greatest gloom and this morning half the time was -the worst yet--all done against the grain. I had half decided to -throw it aside, till I had got back my belief in myself with some -sheer poetry. When I began, I got some philosophy and my mind became -abundant and therefore cheerful. If I can make it obey my own -definition of tragedy, passion defined by motives, I shall be all -right. I was trying for too much character. If, as I think you said, -farce is comedy with character left out, melodrama is, I believe, -tragedy with passion left out.” - -As to our staging of plays, in 1903, the costumes for _The -Hour-Glass_ were designed by my son, and from that time a great -deal of the work was done by him. _The Hour-Glass_ dresses were -purple played against a green curtain. It was our first attempt at -the decorative staging long demanded by Mr. Yeats. Mr. Yeats says, -in _Samhain_, 1905, “Our staging of _Kincora_, the work of Mr. -Robert Gregory, was beautiful, with a high grave dignity and that -strangeness which Ben Jonson thought to be a part of all excellent -beauty.” - -The first acts of the play are laid in King Brian’s great hall at -Kincora. It was hung with green curtains, there were shields embossed -with designs in gold upon the walls, and heavy mouldings over the -doors. The last act showed Brian’s tent at Clontarf; a great orange -curtain filled the background, and it is hard to forget the effect -at the end of three figures standing against it, in green, in red, -in grey. For a front scene there was a curtain--we use it still -in its dimness and age--with a pattern of tree stems interlaced -and of leaves edged with gold. This was the most costly staging we -had yet attempted: it came with costumes to £30. A great deal of -unpaid labour went into it. Mr. Fay discovered a method of making -papier mâché, a chief part of which seemed to be the boiling down of -large quantities of our old programmes, for the mouldings and for -the shields. I have often seen the designer himself on his knees -by a great iron pot--one we use in cottage scenes--dying pieces of -sacking, or up high on a ladder painting his forests or leaves. His -staging of _The Shadowy Waters_ was almost more beautiful; the whole -stage is the sloping deck of a galley, blue and dim, the sails and -dresses are green, the ornaments all of copper. He staged for us -also, for love of his art and of the work, my own plays, _The White -Cockade_, _The Image_, _Dervorgilla_, and Mr. Yeats’s _On Baile’s -Strand_ with the great bronze gates used in other plays as well, in -Lord Dunsany’s _Glittering Gate_ and in _The Countess Cathleen_. It -was by him the scenery for Mr. Yeats’s _Deirdre_ was designed and -painted, and for Synge’s _Deirdre of the Sorrows_. I am proud to -think how much “excellent beauty” he has brought to the help of our -work. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE FIGHT OVER “THE PLAYBOY” - - -When Synge’s _Shadow of the Glen_ was first played in the Molesworth -Hall in 1903, some attacks were made on it by the _Sinn Fein_ weekly -newspaper. In the play the old husband pretends to be dead, the young -wife listens to the offers of a young farmer, who asks her to marry -him in the chapel of Rathvanna when “Himself will be quiet a while -in the Seven Churches.” The old man jumps up, drives her out of the -house, refusing to make peace, and she goes away with a tramp, a -stranger from the roads. Synge was accused of having borrowed the -story from another country, from “a decadent Roman source,” the story -of the widow of Ephesus, and given it an Irish dress. He declared he -had been told this story in the West of Ireland. It had already been -given in Curtin’s tales. Yet the same cry has been made from time to -time. But it happened last winter I was at Newhaven, Massachusetts, -with the Company, and we were asked to tea at the house of a Yale -professor. There were a good many people there, and I had a few words -with each, and as they spoke of the interest taken in the plays, a -lady said: “My old nurse has been reading _The Shadow of the Glen_, -but she says it is but a hearth tale; she had heard it long ago in -Ireland.” Then others came to talk to me, and next day I went on -to speak at Smith College. It was not till later I remembered the -refusal to take Synge’s word, and that now _Shadow of the Glen_ had -been called a “hearth tale.” I was sorry I had not asked for the -old woman’s words to be put down, but I could not remember among so -many strangers who it was that had told me of them. But a little -later, in New York, one of the younger Yale professors came round -during the plays to the little sitting-room at the side of the stage -at the Maxine Elliott Theatre where I received friends. I asked him -to find out what I wanted to know, and after a while I was sent the -words of the old woman, who is a nurse in a well-known philanthropic -family: “Indeed, Miss, I’ve heard that story many’s the time. It’s -what in the old country we call a fireside story. In the evening the -neighbours would be coming in and sitting about the big fire, in -a great stone chimney like you know, and the big long hearthstone -in front, and the men would be stretching out on their backs on the -stones and telling stories just the like of that; how that an old man -had a young wife, and he began to fear she wasn’t true to him, and he -got himself into the bed and a big thorn stick with him, and made out -to be dead, and when his wife was watching beside him in the night -and thinking him safe dead, the other man came in and began talking -to her to make her marry him; and himself jumped up out of the bed -and gave them the great beating, just the same as in the book, Miss, -only it reads more nice and refined like. Oh, there were many of -those fireside stories they’d tell!” - -But the grumbling against this play was only in the papers and in -letters, and it soon died out, although I find in a letter from Mr. -Yeats before the opening of the Abbey: “The _Independent_ has waked -up and attacked us again with a note and a letter of a threatening -nature warning us not to perform Synge again.” The _Well of the -Saints_ was let pass without much comment, though we had very small -audiences for it, for those were early days at the Abbey. It was -another story when in 1907 _The Playboy of the Western World_ was put -on. There was a very large audience on the first night, a Saturday, -January 26th. Synge was there, but Mr. Yeats was giving a lecture -in Scotland. The first act got its applause and the second, though -one felt the audience were a little puzzled, a little shocked at the -wild language. Near the end of the third act there was some hissing. -We had sent a telegram to Mr. Yeats after the first act--“Play great -success”; but at the end we sent another--“Audience broke up in -disorder at the word shift.” For that plain English word was one of -those objected to, and even the papers, in commenting, followed the -example of some lady from the country, who wrote saying “the word -omitted but understood was one she would blush to use even when she -was alone.” - -On the Monday night _Riders to the Sea_, which was the first piece, -went very well indeed. But in the interval after it, I noticed on -one side of the pit a large group of men sitting together, not a -woman among them. I told Synge I thought it a sign of some organised -disturbance and he telephoned to have the police at hand. The first -part of the first act went undisturbed. Then suddenly an uproar -began. The group of men I had noticed booed, hooted, blew tin -trumpets. The editor of one of the Dublin weekly papers was sitting -next to me, and I asked him to count them. He did so and said there -were forty making the disturbance. It was impossible to hear a word -of the play. The curtain came down for a minute, but I went round -and told the actors to go on playing to the end, even if not a word -could be heard. The police, hearing the uproar, began to file in, but -I thought the disturbers might tire themselves out if left alone, or -be satisfied with having made their protest, and I asked them to go -outside but stay within call in case of any attempt being made to -injure the players or the stage. There were very few people in the -stalls, but among them was Lord Walter Fitzgerald, grand-nephew of -the patriot, the adored Lord Edward. He stood up and asked that he -and others in the audience might be allowed to hear the play, but -this leave was refused. The disturbance lasted to the end of the -evening, not one word had been heard after the first ten minutes. - -Next day Mr. Yeats arrived and took over the management of affairs. -Meanwhile I had asked a nephew at Trinity College to come and bring -a few fellow athletes, that we might be sure of some ablebodied -helpers in case of an attack on the stage. But, alas! the very -sight of them was as a match to the resin of the pit, and a roar -of defiance was flung back,--townsman against gownsman, hereditary -enemies challenging each other as they are used to do when party or -political processions march before the railings on College Green. -But no iron railings divided pit and stalls, some scuffles added to -the excitement, and it was one of our defenders at the last who was -carried out bodily by the big actor who was playing Christy Mahon’s -slain father, and by Synge himself. - -I had better help from another nephew. A caricature of the time -shows him in evening dress with unruffled shirt cuffs, leading out -disturbers of the peace. For Hugh Lane would never have worked the -miracle of creating that wonderful gallery at sight of which Dublin -is still rubbing its eyes, if he had not known that in matters of art -the many count less than the few. I am not sure that in the building -of our nation he may not have laid the most lasting stone; no fear -of a charge of nepotism will scare me from “the noble pleasure of -praising,” and so I claim a place for his name above the thirty, -among the chief, of our own mighty men. - -There was a battle of a week. Every night protestors with their -trumpets came and raised a din. Every night the police carried some -of them off to the police courts. Every afternoon the papers gave -reports of the trial before a magistrate who had not heard or read -the play and who insisted on being given details of its incidents by -the accused and by the police. - -We held on, as we had determined, for the week during which we had -announced the play would be acted. It was a definite fight for -freedom from mob censorship. A part of the new National movement had -been, and rightly, an attack on the stage Irishman, the vulgar and -unnatural butt given on the English stage. We had the destroying of -that scarecrow in mind among other things in setting up our Theatre. -But the societies were impatient. They began to dictate here and -there what should or should not be played. Mr. Colum’s plays and Mr. -Boyle’s were found too harsh in their presentment of life. I see in -a letter about a tour we were arranging: “Limerick has not yet come -to terms. They have asked for copies of proposed plays that they may -‘place same before the branch of the Gaelic League there.’” - -At Liverpool a priest had arranged an entertainment. The audience did -not like one of the plays and hooted. The priest thereupon appeared -and apologised, saying he would take the play off. In Dublin, Mr. -Martin Harvey, an old favourite, had been forced to take off after -the first night a little play because its subject was Irish belief -in witchcraft. The widow of a writer of Irish plays that had been -fairly popular was picketed through Ireland with her company and was -nearly ruined, no one being allowed to enter the doors. Finally, -at, I think, Athlone, she was only allowed to produce a play after -it had been cut and rearranged by a local committee, made up of the -shopkeepers of the town. We would not submit Mr. Synge’s work or any -of the work we put on to such a test, nor would we allow any part of -our audience to make itself final judge through preventing others -from hearing and judging for themselves. We have been justified, -for Synge’s name has gone round the world, and we should have been -ashamed for ever if we had not insisted on a hearing for his most -important work. But, had it been a far inferior play and written -by some young writer who had never been heard of, we should have -had to do the same thing. If we had been obliged to give in to such -organised dictation, we should of necessity have closed the Theatre. -I respected the opinion of those among that group who were sincere. -They, not used to works of imagination and wild fantasy, thought -the play a libel on the Irish countryman, who has not put parricide -upon his list of virtues; they thought the language too violent or -it might be profane. The methods were another thing; when the tin -trumpets were blown and brandished, we had to use the same loud -methods and call in the police. We lost some of our audience by the -fight; the pit was weak for a while, but one after another said, -“There is no other theatre to go to,” and came back. The stalls, -curiously, who appeared to approve of our stand, were shy of us for a -long time. They got an idea we were fond of noise and quarrels. That -was our second battle, and even at the end of the week, we had won -it. - -An organiser of agriculture, sent to County Clare, reported that the -District Councils there were engaged in passing resolutions, “Against -the French Government and _The Playboy_.” Mrs. Coppinger in _The -Image_ says, on some such occasion, “Believe me there is not a Board -or a Board Room west of the Shannon but will have a comrade cry put -out between this and the Feast of Pentecost.” And anyhow in our case -some such thing happened. - -But Synge’s fantasy is better understood now even by those “who have -never walked in Apollo’s garden,” and _The Playboy_ holds its place -in the repertory of the Abbey from year to year. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -SYNGE - - -_It is October now and leaves have fallen from the branches of the -big copper-beech in the garden; I saw the stars shining through them -last night. You were asleep then, but in the daytime you can see the -sky all blue through their bareness. And the dry red heaps under them -are noisy when pheasants, looking for mast, hurry away as you come -calling, running, down the hill. The smooth trunk of the tree that -was in shadow all through the summer time shines out now like silver. -You stop to look at letters cut in the bark. You can read most of -them yourself. You came under the wide boughs a few weeks ago, when -a soldier who has gone now to set in order all the British dominions -over sea, carved that “Ian H.” far out of your reach, as high as his -own high head. There is another name higher again, for the painter -who cut that “A” and that “J” climbed up to write it again where we -could not follow him, higher than the birds make their nests. There -are letters of other names, “G. B. S.” and “W. B. Y.” Strangers know -the names they stand for; they are easily known. But there to the -north those letters, “J. M. S.,” stand for a name that was not known -at all at the time it was cut there, a few years before you were -born._ - -_The days are getting short and in the evening, when you ask me for -something to paint or to scribble on, I sometimes give you one from a -bundle of old sheets of paper, with three names printed at the head -of it, with the picture of a woman and a dog. The names are those of -three friends who worked together for a while: Yeats’s name and my -own and the name of John Millington Synge._ - - * * * * * - -I first saw Synge in the north island of Aran. I was staying there, -gathering folk-lore, talking to the people, and felt quite angry -when I passed another outsider walking here and there, talking also -to the people. I was jealous of not being alone on the island among -the fishers and sea-weed gatherers. I did not speak to the stranger, -nor was he inclined to speak to me. He also looked on me as an -intruder. I heard only his name. But a little later in the summer -Mr. Yeats, who was staying with us at Coole, had a note from Synge, -saying he was in Aran. They had met in Paris. Yeats wrote of him from -there: “He is really a most excellent man. He lives in a little room -which he has furnished himself; he is his own servant. He works very -hard and is learning Breton; he will be a very useful scholar.” - -[Illustration: J. M. Synge - -From a drawing by Robert Gregory in 1904] - -I asked him here and we became friends at once. I said of him in a -letter: “One never has to rearrange one’s mind to talk to him.” He -was quite direct, sincere, and simple, not only a good listener but -too good a one, not speaking much in general society. His fellow -guests at Coole always liked him, and he was pleasant and genial -with them, though once, when he had come straight from life on a -wild coast, he confessed that a somewhat warlike English lady in the -house was “civilisation in its most violent form.” There could be a -sharp edge to his wit, as when he said that a certain actress (not -Mrs. Campbell), whose modern methods he disliked, had turned Yeats’ -_Deirdre_ into _The Second Mrs. Conchubar_. And once, when awakened -from the anæsthetic after one of those hopeless operations, the -first words that could be understood were, “Those damned English -can’t even swear without vulgarity.” - -He sent me later, when we had been long working at the Theatre, -some reviews of his work from a German newspaper. “What gives -me a sympathy with this new man is that he does not go off into -sentimentality. Behind this legend I see a laughing face; then he -raises his eyebrows in irony and laughs again. Herr Synge may not be -a dramatist, he may not be a great poet, but he has something in him -that I like, a thing that for many good Germans is a book with seven -seals, that is, Humour.” He writes a note with this, “I’d like to -quote about ‘Humour,’ but I don’t want to tell Dublin I’m maybe no -dramatist; that wouldn’t do.” - -Of his other side, Mr. J. B. Yeats wrote to me: “Coleridge said that -all Shakespeare’s characters from Macbeth to Dogberry are ideal -realities, his comedies are poetry as an unlimited jest, and his -tragedies ‘poetry in deepest earnest.’ Had he seen Synge’s plays he -would have called them, ‘Poetry in unlimited sadness.’” - -While with us, he hardly looked at a newspaper. He seemed to look on -politics and reforms with a sort of tolerant indifference, though he -spoke once of something that had happened as “the greatest tragedy -since Parnell’s death.” He told me that the people of the play he -was writing often seemed the real people among whom he lived, and I -think his dreamy look came from this. He spent a good deal of time -wandering in our woods where many shy creatures still find their -homes--marten cats and squirrels and otters and badgers,--and by the -lake where wild swans come and go. He told Mr. Yeats he had given up -wearing the black clothes he had worn for a while, when they were a -fashion with writers, thinking they were not in harmony with nature, -which is so sparing in the use of the harsh colour of the raven. - -Simple things always pleased him. In his long illness in a Dublin -hospital where I went to see him every day, he would ask for every -detail of a search I was making for a couple of Irish terrier puppies -to bring home, and laugh at my adventures again and again. And when -I described to him the place where I had found the puppies at last, -a little house in a suburb, with a long garden stretching into wide -fields, with a view of the hills beyond, he was excited and said -that it was just such a Dublin home as he wanted, and as he had been -sure was somewhere to be found. He asked me at this time about a -village on the Atlantic coast, where I had stayed for a while, over -a post-office, and where he hoped he might go for his convalescence -instead of to Germany, as had been arranged for him. I said, in -talking, that I felt more and more the time wasted that was not spent -in Ireland, and he said: “That is just my feeling.” - -The rich, abundant speech of the people was a delight to him. When -my _Cuchulain of Muirthemme_ came out, he said to Mr. Yeats he had -been amazed to find in it the dialect he had been trying to master. -He wrote to me: “Your _Cuchulain_ is a part of my daily bread.” I -say this with a little pride, for I was the first to use the Irish -idiom as it is spoken, with intention and with belief in it. Dr. Hyde -indeed has used it with fine effect in his _Love Songs of Connacht_, -but alas! gave it up afterwards, in deference to some Dublin editor. -He wrote to me after his first visit: “I had a very prosperous -journey up from Gort. At Athenry an old Irish-speaking wanderer -made my acquaintance. He claimed to be the best singer in England, -Ireland, and America. One night, he says, he sang a song at Moate, -and a friend of his heard the words in Athenry. He was so much struck -by the event, he had himself examined by one who knew, and found that -his singing did not come out of his lungs but out of his heart, which -is a ‘winged heart’!” - -At the time of his first visit to Coole he had written some poems, -not very good for the most part, and a play, which was not good at -all. I read it again after his death when, according to his written -wish, helping Mr. Yeats in sorting out the work to be published -or set aside, and again it seemed but of slight merit. But a year -later he brought us his two plays, _The Shadow of the Glen_, and the -_Riders to the Sea_, both masterpieces, both perfect in their way. He -had got emotion, the driving force he needed, from his life among the -people, and it was the working in dialect that had set free his style. - -He was anxious to publish his book on Aran and these two plays, and -so have something to add to that “£40 a year and a new suit when I -am too shabby,” he used with a laugh to put down as his income. He -wrote to me from Paris in February, 1902: “I don’t know what part of -Europe you may be in now, but I suppose this will reach you if I send -it to Coole. I want to tell you the evil fate of my Aran book and -ask your advice. It has been to two London publishers, one of whom -was sympathetic, though he refused it, as he said it would not be a -commercial success, and the other inclined to be scornful. - -“Now that you have seen the book, do you think that there would be -any chance of Mr. N---- taking it up? I am afraid he is my only -chance, but I don’t know whether there is any possibility of getting -him to bring out a book of the kind at his own expense, as after all -there is very little folk-lore in it.” - -I took the book to London and had it retyped, for Synge, as I myself -do, typed his own manuscripts, and the present one was very faint and -rubbed. Both Mr. Yeats and I took it to publishers, but they would -not accept it. Synge writes in March, 1903: - -“My play came back from the _Fortnightly_ as not suitable for their -purpose. I don’t think that Mr. J---- intends to bring out the Aran -book. I saw him on my way home, but he seemed hopelessly undecided, -saying one minute he liked it very much, and that it might be a great -success, and that he wanted to be in touch with the Irish movement, -and then going off in the other direction, and fearing that it might -fall perfectly flat! Finally he asked me to let him consider it a -little longer!” - -I was no more successful. I wrote to Mr. Yeats, who was in America: -“I went to Mr. B. about the music for your book ... I think I told -you he had never opened the Synge MS., and said he would rather have -nothing to do with it. Masefield has it now.” - -Then I had a note: “Dear Lady Gregory, I saw Mr. N. yesterday and -spoke to him about Synge’s new play [_Riders to the Sea_], which -struck me as being in some ways better even than the other. He has -promised to read it if it is sent to him, though he does not much -care for plays. Will you post it to, the Editor, _Monthly Review_.... -Yours very truly, Arthur Symons.” - -Nothing came of that and in December Synge writes: - -“I am delighted to find that there is a prospect of getting the book -out at last, and equally grateful for the trouble you have taken -with it. I am writing to Masefield to-day to thank him and ask him -by all means to get Matthews to do as he proposes. Do you think if -he brings out the book in the spring, I should add the _Tinkers_? I -was getting on well with the blind people (in _Well of the Saints_), -till about a month ago when I suddenly got ill with influenza and a -nasty attack on my lung. I am getting better now, but I cannot work -yet satisfactorily, so I hardly know when the play is likely to be -finished. There is no use trying to hurry on with a thing of that -sort when one is not in the mood.” - -Yet, after all, the Aran book was not published till 1907, when -Synge’s name had already gone up. _The Shadow of the Glen_ and -_Riders to the Sea_ were published by Mr. Elkin Matthews in 1905. -_Riders to the Sea_ had already been published in _Samhain_, the -little annual of our Theatre, edited by Mr. Yeats. And in America a -friend of ours and of the Theatre had printed some of the plays in a -little edition of fifty copies, thus saving his copyright. It was of -Synge and of others as well as myself I thought when, in dedicating a -book to John Quinn during my first winter in America, I wrote, “best -friend, best helper, these half score years on this side of the sea.” - -When Synge had joined us in the management of the Theatre, he took -his share of the work, and though we were all amateurs then, we got -on somehow or other. He writes about a secretary we had sent for him -to report on: “He seems very willing and I think he may do very well -if he does not take fright at us. He still thinks it was a terrible -thing for Yeats to suggest that Irish people should sell their souls -and for you to put His Sacred Majesty James II. into a barrel. He -should be very useful in working up an audience; an important part -of our work that we have rather neglected. By the way, the annual -meeting of our company must be held, I suppose, before the year is -up. It would be well to have it before we pay off Ryan, as otherwise -we shall all be sitting about, looking with curiosity and awe at the -balance sheet.” - -He went on bravely with his work, but always fighting against ill -health. He writes: “Feb. 15, ’06. Many thanks for the MS. of _Le -Médecin_. I think he is entirely admirable and is certain to go well. -This is just a line to acknowledge the MS., as I suppose I shall see -you in a day or two. - -“My play has made practically no headway since, as I have been down -for ten days with bronchitis. My lung is not touched, however, and I -have got off well considering. I hope I shall be all right by next -week.” - -[About the same date.]: “I am pleased with the way my play is going, -but I find it is quite impossible to rush through with it now, so -I rather think I shall take it and the typewriter to some place -in Kerry where I could work. By doing so, I will get some sort of -holiday and still avoid dropping the play again, which is a rather -dangerous process. If I do this, I will be beyond posts.... If I do -not get a good summer, I generally pay for it in the winter in extra -bouts of influenza and all its miseries.” - -“August 12, ’06. I shall be very glad, thanks, to go down and read -you my play (_The Playboy_), if it is finished in time, but there -is still a great deal to do. I have had a very steady week’s work -since last Sunday and have made good way, but my head is getting very -tired. Working in hot weather takes a lot out of me.” - -“November 25, ’06. I have had rather a worse attack than I expected -when I wrote my last note, but I am much better now, and out as -usual. One of my lungs, however, has been a little touched, so I -shall have to be careful for a while. Would it be possible to put off -_The Playboy_ for a couple of weeks? I am afraid if I went to work -at him again now, and then rehearsed all December, I would be very -likely to knock up badly before I was done with him. My doctor says I -may do so if it is _necessary_, but he advises me to take a couple of -weeks’ rest if it can be managed. That cousin of mine who etches is -over here now, and he wants me to stay with him for a fortnight in a -sort of country house he has in Surrey; so if you think _The Playboy_ -can be put off, I will go across on Thursday or Friday and get back -in time to see _The Shadowy Waters_ and get _The Playboy_ under way -for January. What do you think? If so, I would like to read the third -act of _Playboy_ to you before I go, and then make final changes -while I am away, as I shall have a quiet time.” - -He worked very hard at _The Playboy_, altering it a good deal as he -went on. He had first planned the opening act in the ploughed field, -where the quarrel between Christy and his father took place. But -when he thought of the actual stage, he could not see any possible -side wings for that “wide, windy corner of high distant hills.” He -had also thought that the scene of the return of the father should -be at the very door of the chapel where Christy was to wed Pegeen. -But in the end all took place within the one cottage room. We all -tried at that time to write our plays so as to require as little -scene-shifting as possible for the sake of economy of scenery and of -stage hands. - -In October, 1906, Synge wrote to Mr. Yeats: “My play, though in its -last agony, is not finished, and I cannot promise it for any definite -day. It is more than likely that when I read it to you and Fay, there -will be little things to alter that have escaped me, and with my -stuff it takes time to get even half a page of new dialogue fully -into key with what goes before it. The play, I think, will be one of -the longest we have done, and in places extremely difficult. If we -said the 19th, I could only have six or seven full rehearsals, which -would not, I am quite sure, be enough. I am very sorry, but what is -to be done?” - -Then he wrote to me in November: “May I read _The Playboy_ to -you and Yeats and Fay, some time to-morrow, Saturday, or Monday, -according as it suits you all? A little verbal correction is still -necessary, and one or two structural points may need--I fancy do -need--revision, but I would like to have your opinions on it before I -go any further.” - -I remember his bringing the play to us in Dublin, but he was too -hoarse to read it, and it was read by Mr. Fay. We were almost -bewildered by its abundance and fantasy, but we felt, and Mr. Yeats -said very plainly, that there was far too much “bad language.” There -were too many violent oaths, and the play itself was marred by this. -I did not think it was fit to be put on the stage without cutting. -It was agreed that it should be cut in rehearsal. A fortnight before -its production, Mr. Yeats, thinking I had seen a rehearsal, wrote: “I -would like to know how you thought _The Playboy_ acted.... Have they -cleared many of the objectionable sentences out of it?” I did not, -however, see a rehearsal and did not hear the play again until the -night of its production, and then I told Synge that the cuts were not -enough, that many more should be made. He gave me leave to do this, -and, in consultation with the players, I took out many phrases which, -though in the printed book, have never since that first production -been spoken on our stage. I am sorry they were not taken out before -it had been played at all, but that is just what happened. - -On Saturday, January 26, 1907, I found a note from Synge on my -arrival in Dublin: “I do not know how things will go to-night. The -day company are all very steady but some of the outsiders in a most -deplorable state of uncertainty.... I have a sort of second edition -of influenza and I am looking gloomily at everything. Fay has worked -very hard all through, and everything has gone smoothly.” - -I think the week’s rioting helped to break down his health. He was -always nervous at a first production and the unusual excitement -attending this one upset him. He took a chill and was kept to his -bed for a while. Yet he got away to wild places while he could. He -wrote to me from the Kerry coast: “My journey went off all right, and -though I had a terribly wet night in Tralee, I was able to ride on -here next day. When I came up to the house, I found to my horror a -large green tent pitched in the haggard and thought I had run my head -into a Gaelic League settlement at last. However, it turned out to -be only a band of sappers, who have since moved on.” And again: “The -day after to-morrow I move on, bag and baggage, to the Great Blasket -Island. It is probably even more primitive than Aran, and I am wild -with joy at the prospect. I will tell you of my new abode. I am to go -out in a curragh on Sunday, when the people are going back from Mass -on the mainland, and I am to lodge with the King!” - -It was only in the country places he was shy of the Gaelic League. -In August, 1906, he says: “I went to the Oireactas on Thursday to -see their plays. Their propagandist play, done by the Ballaghadereen -company, was clever, with some excellent dialogue. The peasants who -acted it were quite admirable. I felt really enthusiastic about the -whole show, although the definitely propagandist fragments were, of -course, very crude. The play was called, I think, _an T-Atruighe mor_ -(The big change). I think I have spelled it wrong. It would probably -read badly.” - -The last year was still a struggle against failing strength: “April, -’08. I have been waiting from day to day to write, so that I might -say something definite about my ‘tin-tacks’ (an allusion to the old -man in _Workhouse Ward_ who had pains like tin-tacks in his inside) -and possible plans. I was with the doctor again to-day, and he thinks -I may have to go into hospital again and perhaps have an operation, -but things are uncertain for a day or two.... I fear there is little -possibility of my being able to go to the shows this week, so I do -not know if you ought to come up, if you can without inconvenience. -I am rather afraid of slovenly shows if there are poor houses and -no one there to supervise. It is very trying having to drop my -rehearsals of _Well of the Saints_. In fact, this unlooked for -complication is a terrible upset everyway--I have so much to do.” - -“August 28, ’08. I have just been with Sir C. Ball. He seems to think -I am going on very well, and says I may ride and bicycle and do what -I like! All the same I am not good for much yet. I get tired out very -easily. I am half inclined to go to the British Association matinée -on Friday. I would like to hear Yeats’ speech, and I don’t think it -would do me any harm. In any case, I will go in and see you when you -are up. I think of going away to Germany or somewhere before very -long. I am not quite well enough for the West of Ireland in this -broken weather, and I think the complete change would do me most -good. I have old friends on the Rhine I could stay with, if I decide -to go there. I hear great accounts of the Abbey this week. It almost -looks as if Dublin was beginning to know we are there. I have been -fiddling with my _Deirdre_ a little. I think I’ll have to cut it down -to two longish acts. The middle act in Scotland is impossible.... -They have been playing _The Well of the Saints_ in Munich. I have -just got £3:10, royalties. It was a one-act version I have just heard -this minute, compressed from my text!” - -“January 3, ’09. I have done a great deal to _Deirdre_ since I saw -you, chiefly in the way of strengthening motives and recasting the -general scenario; but there is still a good deal to be done with the -dialogue and some scenes in the first act must be rewritten to make -them fit in with the new parts I have added. I only work a little -every day, and I suffer more than I like with indigestion and -general uneasiness inside.... The doctors are vague and don’t say -much that is definite.... - -“They are working at the _Miser_ now and are all very pleased with it -and with themselves, as I hear. I have not been in to see a rehearsal -yet, as I keep out in the country as much as I can.” - -But his strength did not last long enough to enable him to finish -_Deirdre of the Sorrows_, his last play. After he was gone, we did -our best to bring the versions together, and we produced it early in -the next year, but it needed the writer’s hand. I did my best for it, -working at its production through snowy days and into winter nights -until rheumatism seized me with a grip I have never shaken off. I -wrote to Mr. Yeats: “I still hope we can start with _Deirdre_. I will -be in Dublin for rehearsals in Christmas week, though I still hope -to get to Paris for Christmas with Robert, but it may not be worth -while. I will spend all January at the Theatre, but I must be back on -the first of February to do some planting that cannot be put off.” -And again: “I am more hopeful of _Deirdre_ now. I have got Conchubar -and Fergus off at the last in Deirdre’s long speech and that makes -an immense improvement. She looks lonely and pathetic with the other -two women crouching and rocking themselves on the floor.” - -For we have done our best for Synge’s work since we lost him, as we -did while he was with us here. - -He had written a poem which was in the Press at the time of his death: - - “With Fifteen-ninety or Sixteen-sixteen - We end Cervantes, Marot, Nashe or Green; - Then Sixteen-thirteen till two score and nine - Is Crashaw’s niche, that honey-lipped divine. - And so when all my little work is done - They’ll say I came in Eighteen-seventy-one, - And died in Dublin. What year will they write - For my poor passage to the stall of Night?” - -Early in 1909 he was sent again into a private hospital in Dublin. -A letter came to me from Mr. Yeats, dated March 24th: “In the early -morning Synge said to the nurse ‘It’s no use fighting death any -longer,’ and turned over and died.” - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE FIGHT WITH THE CASTLE - - -In the summer of 1909 I went one day from London to Ayot St. -Lawrence, a Hertfordshire village, to consult Mr. Bernard Shaw on -some matters connected with our Theatre. When I was leaving, he gave -me a little book, _The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet_, which had just -been printed, although not published. It had, however, been already -rejected by the Censor, as all readers of the newspapers know; and -from that quiet cottage the fiery challenge-giving answers had been -sent out. I read the play as I went back in the train, and when at -St. Pancras Mr. Yeats met me to talk over the business that had taken -me away, I showed him the little book that had been given its black -ball, and I said, “Hypocrites.” - -A little time afterwards Mr. Shaw offered us the play for the Abbey, -for the Censor has no jurisdiction in Ireland--an accidental freedom. -We accepted it and put it in rehearsal that we might produce it in -Horse Show week. We were without a regular stage manager at that -time, and thought to have it produced by one of the members of -the Company. But very soon the player who had taken it in charge -found the work too heavy and troublesome, and withdrew from the -stage management, though not from taking a part. I had a letter one -morning telling me this, and I left by the next train for Dublin. -As I left, I sent a wire to a London actor--a friend--asking if -he could come over and help us out of this knot. Meanwhile, that -evening, and before his answer came, I held a rehearsal, the first -I had ever taken quite alone. I thought out positions during the -night, and next morning, when I had another rehearsal, I began to -find an extraordinary interest and excitement in the work. I saw -that Blanco’s sermon, coming as it did after bustling action, was in -danger of seeming monotonous. I broke it up by making him deliver -the first part standing up on the Sheriff’s bench, then bringing him -down to sit on the table and speak some of the words into the face of -Elder Posnet. After that I sent him with a leap on to the table for -the last phrases. I was very much pleased with the effect of this -action, and by the time a telegram told me my London friend could -come, I was confident enough to do without him. We were very proud -and pleased when the whole production was taken to London later by -the Stage Society. I have produced plays since then, my own and a few -others. It is tiring work; one spends so much of one’s own vitality. - -That is what took me away from home to Dublin in that summer time, -when cities are out of season. Mr. Yeats had stayed on at Coole at -his work, and my letters to him, and letters after that to my son and -to Mr. Shaw, will tell what happened through those hot days, and of -the battle with Dublin Castle, which had taken upon itself to make -the writ of the London Censor run at the Abbey. - -I received while in Dublin, the following letter from a permanent -official in Dublin Castle: - -“DEAR LADY GREGORY: - -“I am directed by the Lord Lieutenant to state that His Excellency’s -attention has been called to an announcement in the Public Press that -a play entitled _The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet_ is about to be -performed in the Abbey Theatre. - -“This play was written for production in a London theatre, and its -performance was disallowed by the Authority which in England is -charged with the Censorship of stage plays. The play does not deal -with an Irish subject, and it is not an Irish play in any other -sense than that its author was born in Ireland. It is now proposed -to produce this play in the Abbey Theatre, which was founded for -the express purpose of encouraging dramatic art in Ireland, and of -fostering a dramatic school growing out of the life of the country. - -“The play in question does not seem well adapted to promote these -laudable objects or to belong to the class of plays originally -intended to be performed in the Abbey Theatre, as described in the -evidence on the hearing of the application for the Patent. - -“However this may be, the fact of the proposed performance having -been brought to the notice of the Lord Lieutenant, His Excellency -cannot evade the responsibility cast upon him of considering whether -the play conforms in other respects to the conditions of the Patent. - -“His Excellency, after the most careful consideration, has arrived -at the conclusion that in its original form the play is not in -accordance either with the assurances given by those interested when -the Patent was applied for, or with the conditions and restrictions -contained in the Patent as granted by the Crown. - -“As you are the holder of the Patent in trust for the generous -founder of the Theatre, His Excellency feels bound to call -your attention, and also the attention of those with whom you -are associated, to the terms of the Patent and to the serious -consequences which the production of the play in its original form -might entail....” - -I tell what followed in letters written to Coole: - -“Thursday, August 12th. At the Theatre this morning the Secretary -told me Whitney & Moore (our solicitors) had telephoned that they had -a hint there would be interference with the production of _Blanco -Posnet_ by the Castle, and would like to see me. - -“I went to see Dr. Moore. He said a Castle Official, whose name he -would not give, had called the day before yesterday and said, ‘As -a friend of Sir Benjamin Whitney, I have come to tell you that if -this play is produced it will be a very expensive thing for Miss -Horniman.’ Dr. Moore took this to mean the Patent would be forfeited. -I talked the matter over with him and asked if he would get further -information from his friend as to what method they meant to adopt, -for I would not risk the immediate forfeiture of the Patent, but -would not mind a threat of refusal to give a new Patent, as by that -time--1910--perhaps neither the present Lord Lieutenant nor the -present Censor would be in office. - -“Dr. Moore said he would go and see his friend, and at a quarter past -two I had a message on the telephone from him that I had better see -the Castle Official or that he wished to see me (I didn’t hear very -well) before 3 o’clock. I went to the Castle and saw the Official. He -said, ‘Well.’ I said, ‘Are you going to cut off our heads?’ He said, -‘This is a very serious business; I think you are very ill-advised -to think of putting on this play. May I ask how it came about?’ I -said, ‘Mr. Shaw offered it and we accepted it.’ He said, ‘You have -put us in a most difficult and disagreeable position by putting on -a play to which the English Censor objected.’ I answered, ‘We do -not take his view of it, and we think it hypocrisy objecting to a -fallen woman in homespun on the stage, when a fallen woman in satin -has been the theme of such a great number of plays that have been -passed.’ He said, ‘It is not that the Censor objected to; it is the -use of certain expressions which may be considered blasphemous. Could -not they be left out?’ ‘Then there would be no play. The subject of -the play is a man, a horse-thief, shaking his fist at Heaven, and -finding afterwards that Heaven is too strong for him. If there were -no defiance, there could be no victory. It is the same theme that -Milton has taken in Satan’s defiance in _Paradise Lost_. I consider -it a deeply religious play, and one that could hurt no man, woman, -or child. If it had been written by some religious leader, or even -by a dramatist considered “safe,” nonconformists would admire and -approve of it.’ He said, ‘We have nothing to do with that, the fact -for us is that the Censor has banned it.’ I said, ‘Yes, and passed -_The Merry Widow_, which is to be performed here the same week, and -which I have heard is objectionable, and _The Devil_, which I saw in -London.’ He said, ‘We would not have interfered, but what can we do -when we see such paragraphs as these?’ handing me a cutting from the -_Irish Times_ headed, ‘Have we a Censor?’ I replied, ‘We have not -written or authorised it, as you might see by its being incorrect. -I am sole Patentee of the Theatre.’ He said, ‘Dublin society will -call out against us if we let it go on.’ ‘Lord Iveagh has taken six -places.’ ‘For that play?’ ‘Yes, for that play, and I believe Dublin -society is likely to follow Lord Iveagh.’ He went on, ‘And Archbishop -Walsh may object.’ I was silent. He said, ‘It is very hard on the -Lord Lieutenant. You should have had more consideration for him.’ I -replied, ‘We did not know or remember that the power rested with him, -but it is hard on him, for he can’t please everybody.’ He said, ‘Will -you not give it up?’ ‘What will you do if we go on?’ ‘Either take no -notice or take the Patent from you at once.’ I said, ‘If you decide -to forfeit our Patent, we will not give a public performance; but if -we give no performance to be judged by, we shall rest under the slur -of having tried to produce something bad and injurious.’ ‘We must not -provoke Public opinion.’ ‘We provoked Nationalist public opinion in -_The Playboy_, and you did not interfere.’ ‘Aye,’ said he, ‘exactly -so, that was quite different; that had not been banned by the -Censor.’ I said, ‘Time has justified us, for we have since produced -_The Playboy_ in Dublin and on tour with success, and it will justify -us in the case of this play.’ ‘But _Blanco Posnet_ is very inferior -to _The Playboy_.’ I said, ‘Even so, Bernard Shaw has an intellectual -position above that of Mr. Synge, though he is not above him in -imaginative power. He is recognised as an intellectual force, and -his work cannot be despised.’ ‘Lord Aberdeen will have to decide.’ -‘I should like him to know,’ I said, ‘that from a business point of -view the refusal to allow this play, already announced, to be given -would do us a serious injury.’ He said, ‘No advertisements have been -published.’ ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘the posters have been out some days, and -there is a good deal of booking already from England as well as here. -We are just beginning to pay our way as a Theatre. We should be able -to do so if we got about a dozen more stalls regularly. The people -who would take stalls will be frightened off by your action. The -continuance of our Theatre at all may depend on what you do now. We -are giving a great deal of employment, spending in Dublin over £1500 -a year, and our Company bears the highest possible character.’ He -said, ‘I know that well.’ I said, ‘I know Lord Aberdeen is friendly -to our Theatre, though he does not come to it, not liking the colour -of our carpets.’ He said ‘He is a supporter of the drama. He was -one of Sir Henry Irving’s pall-bearers.’ ‘When shall we know the -decision?’ ‘In a day or two, perhaps to-morrow. You can produce it in -Cork, Galway, or Waterford. It is only in Dublin the Lord Lieutenant -has power.’ He read from time to time a few lines from the Patent or -Act of Parliament before him, ‘just to get them into your head.’ The -last words he read were, ‘There must be no profane representation of -sacred personages’; ‘and that,’ he said, ‘applies to Blanco Posnet’s -representations of the Deity.’ I told him of the Censor’s note on -_The Playboy_, ‘The expression “Khaki cut-throats” must be cut out, -together with any others that may be considered derogatory to His -Majesty’s Forces,’ and he laughed. Then I said, ‘How can we think -much of the opinion of a man like that?’ He said, ‘I believe he was a -bank manager.’ We then said good-bye.” - -“Friday, 5 o’c. Dr. Moore sent for me at 4 o’clock. I went with W. -B. Yeats, who had arrived. The Crown Solicitor at the Castle, Sir -B. Whitney’s ‘friend,’ had called and told him the Lord Lieutenant -was ‘entirely opposed to the play being proceeded with and would use -every power the law gave him to stop it,’ and that, ‘it would be much -better for us to lay the play aside.’ - -“We decided to go on with the performance and let the Patent be -forfeited, and if we must die, die gloriously. Yeats was for this -course, and I agreed. Then I thought it right to let the Permanent -Official know my change of intention, and, after some unsuccessful -attempts on the telephone, W. B. Y. and I went to see him at the -Castle. He was very smiling and amiable this time, and implored -us, as we had understood him to do through the telephone, to save -the Lord Lieutenant from his delicate position. ‘You defy us, you -advertise it under our very nose, at the time everyone is making -a fight with the Censor.’ He threatened to take away our Patent -before the play came on at all, if we persisted in the intention. -I said that would give us a fine case. Yeats said we intended to -do _Œdipus_, that this also was a censored play, although so -unobjectionable to religious minds that it had been performed -in the Catholic University of Nôtre Dame, and that we should be -prevented if we announced it now. He replied, ‘Leave that till the -time comes, and you needn’t draw our attention to it.’ We said the -_Irish Times_ might again draw his attention to it. He proposed our -having a private performance only. I said, ‘I had a letter from Mr. -Shaw objecting to that course.’ He moaned, and said, ‘It is very -hard upon us. Can you suggest no way out of it?’ We answered, ‘None, -except our being left alone.’ ‘Oh, Lady Gregory,’ he said, ‘appeal -to your own common sense.’ When I mentioned Shaw’s letter, he said, -‘All Shaw wants is to use the Lord Lieutenant as a whip to lay upon -the Censor.’ Yeats said, ‘Shaw would use him in that way whatever -happens.’ ‘I know he will,’ said the Official. At last he asked if we -could get Mr. Shaw to take out the passages he had already offered to -take out for the Censor. We agreed to ask him to do this, as we felt -the Castle was beaten, as the play even then would still be the one -forbidden in England.” - -This is the letter I had received from Mr. Shaw: - - “10 Adelphi Terrace, W. C. 12th August, 1909. - -“Your news is almost too good to be true. If the Lord Lieutenant -would only forbid an Irish play without reading it, and after it had -been declared entirely guiltless and admirable by the leading high -class journal on the side of his own party [_The Nation_], forbid -it at the command of an official of the King’s household in London, -then the green flag would indeed wave over Abbey Street, and we -should have questions in Parliament and all manner of reverberating -advertisement and nationalist sympathy for the Theatre. - -“I gather from your second telegram that the play has, perhaps, been -submitted for approval. If so, that will be the worse for us, as -the Castle can then say they forbade it on its demerits without the -slightest reference to the Lord Chamberlain. - -“In any case, do not threaten them with a contraband performance. -Threaten that we shall be suppressed; that we shall be made martyrs -of; that we shall suffer as much and as publicly as possible. Tell -them that they can depend on me to burn with a brighter blaze and -louder yells than all Foxe’s martyrs.” - -Mr. Shaw telegraphed his answer to the demand for cuts: - -“The _Nation_ article gives particulars of cuts demanded, which I -refused as they would have destroyed the religious significance of -the play. The line about moral relations is dispensable as they are -mentioned in several other places; so it can be cut if the Castle is -silly enough to object to such relations being called immoral, but -I will cut nothing else. It is an insult to the Lord Lieutenant to -ignore him and refer me to the requirements of a subordinate English -Official. I will be no party to any such indelicacy. Please say I -said so, if necessary.” - -I give in the Appendix the _Nation_ article to which he refers. My -next letter home says: - -“August 14. Having received the telegram from Shaw and the _Nation_ -article, we went to the Castle to see the Official, but only found -his secretary, who offered to speak to him through a telephone, but -the telephone was wheezy, and after long trying, all we could arrive -at was that he wanted to know if we had seen Sir H. Beerbohm Tree’s -evidence, in which he said there were passages in _Blanco_ that would -be better out. Then he proposed our going to see him at his house, as -he has gout and rheumatism and couldn’t come to us. - -“We drove to his house. He began on Tree, but Yeats told him Tree was -the chief representative of the commercial theatre we are opposed -to. He then proposed our giving a private performance, and we again -told him Shaw had forbidden that. I read him the telegram refusing -cuts, but he seemed to have forgotten that he had asked for cuts, -and repeated his appeal to spare the Lord Lieutenant. I showed him -the _Nation_ article, and he read it and said ‘But the _Book of Job_ -is not by the same author as _Blanco Posnet_.’ Yeats said, ‘Then if -you could, you would censor the Deity?’ ‘Just so,’ said he. He asked -if we could make no concession. We said, ‘no,’ but that if they -decided to take away the Patent, we should put off the production -till the beginning of our season, end of September, and produce it -with _Œdipus_; then they would have to suppress both together. He -brightened up and said, if we could put it off, things would be much -easier, as the Commission would not be sitting then or the Public -be so much interested in the question. I said ‘Of course we should -have to announce at once that it was in consequence of the threatened -action of the Castle we had postponed it.’ ‘Oh, you really don’t mean -that! You would let all the bulls loose. It would be much better -not to say anything at all, or to say the rehearsals took longer -than you expected.’ ‘The public announcement will be more to our own -advantage.’ ‘Oh, that is dreadful!’ I said, ‘We did not give in one -quarter of an inch to Nationalist Ireland at _The Playboy_ time, and -we certainly cannot give in one quarter of an inch to the Castle.’ - -“‘We must think of Archbishop Walsh!’ I said, ‘The Archbishop would -be slow to move, for if he orders his flock to keep away from our -play, he can’t let them attend many of the Censor’s plays, and the -same thing applies to the Lord Lieutenant.’ The Official said, ‘I -know that.’ We said ‘We did not give in to the Church when Cardinal -Logue denounced the _Countess Cathleen_. We played it under police -protection.’ ‘I never heard of that. Why did he object?’ Yeats -said, ‘For exactly the same objection as is made to the present one, -speeches made by demons in the play.’ - -“Yeats spoke very seriously then about the principle involved; -pointing out that we were trying to create a model on which a great -national theatre may be founded in the future, that if we accepted -the English Censor’s ruling in Ireland, he might forbid a play like -Wills’ _Robert Emmet_, which Irving was about to act, and was made -to give up for political reasons. He said, ‘You want, in fact, to -have liberty to produce all plays refused by the Censor.’ I said, ‘We -have produced none in the past and not only that, we have refused -plays that we thought would hurt Catholic religious feeling. We -refused, for instance, to produce Synge’s _Tinker’s Wedding_, much -as we uphold his work, because a drunken priest made ridiculous -appears in it. That very play was directly after Synge’s death asked -for by Tree, whom you have been holding up to us, for production in -London.’ He said, ‘I am very sorry attention was drawn to the play. -If no attention had been drawn to it by the papers, we should be all -right. It is so wrong to produce it while the Commission is actually -sitting and the whole question _sub judice_. We are in close official -relation with the English officials of whom the Lord Chamberlain -is one; that is the whole question.’ We said, ‘We see no way out -of it. We are determined to produce the play. We cannot accept the -Censor’s decision as applying to Ireland and you must make up your -mind what course to take, but we ask to be let known as soon as -possible because if we are to be suppressed, we must find places for -our players, who will be thrown out of work.’ He threw up his hands -and exclaimed, ‘Oh, my dear lady, but do not speak of such a thing -as possible!’ ‘Why,’ I asked, ‘what else have you been threatening -all the time?’ He said, ‘Well, the Lord Lieutenant will be here on -Tuesday and will decide. He has not given his attention to the matter -up to this’ (this does not bear out the Crown Solicitor’s story); -‘Perhaps you had better stay to see him.’ I told him that I wanted to -get home, but would stay if absolutely necessary. He said, ‘Oh, yes, -stay and you will probably see Lady Aberdeen also.’” - -Mr. Shaw’s next letter was from Kerry where he was motoring. In it -he said: “I saw an _Irish Times_ to-day with _Blanco_ announced for -production; so I presume the Castle has not put its foot down. The -officials made an appalling technical blunder in acting as agents of -the Lord Chamberlain in Ireland; and I worded my telegram in such a -way as to make it clear that I knew the value of that indiscretion. - -“I daresay the telegram reached the Castle before it reached you.” - -Meanwhile on August 15th I had written to the Castle: - -“I am obliged to go home to-morrow, so if you have any news for us, -will you very kindly let us have it at Coole. - -“We are, as you know, arranging to produce _Blanco_ on Wednesday, -25th, as advertised and booked for, unless you serve us with a -‘Threatening notice,’ in which case we shall probably postpone it -till September 30th and produce it with the already promised _Œdipus_. - -“I am very sorry to have given you so much trouble and worry, and, -as we told you, we had no idea the responsibility would fall on any -shoulders but our own; but I think we have fully explained to you -the reasons that make it necessary for us now to carry the matter -through.” - -I received the following answer: - -“I am sorry you have been obliged to return to Galway. His -Excellency, who arrived this morning, regrets that he has missed the -opportunity of seeing you and desires me to say that if you wished an -interview with him on Thursday, he would be glad to receive you at -the Viceregal Lodge. - -“He will give the subject which has been discussed between us his -earliest attention.” - -I received by the same post a long and very kind letter from the -Lord Lieutenant, written with his own hand. I am sorry that it was -marked “Private,” and so I cannot give it here. I may, however, quote -the words that brought us back to Dublin. “It would seem that some -further personal conference might be very desirable and therefore -I hope that it may be possible for you to revisit Dublin on the -earliest available day. I shall, of course, be most happy to have an -opportunity for a talk with Mr. Yeats.” - -So my next letter home says: “Friday, 20th. We arrived at the -Broadstone yesterday at 2.15, and were met by the Official’s -secretary, who asked us to go to the Viceregal Lodge. Arrived there, -another secretary came and asked me to go and see the Lord Lieutenant -alone, saying Mr. Yeats could go in later.” - -Alas! I must be discreet and that conversation with the King’s -representative must not be given to the world, at least by me. I -can only mention external things: Mr. Yeats, until he joined the -conference, being kept by the secretary, whether from poetical or -political reasons, to the non-committal subject of Spring flowers; my -grieved but necessary contumacy; our joint and immovable contumacy; -the courtesy shown to us and, I think, also by us; the kindly offers -of a cup of tea; the consuming desire for that tea after the dust of -the railway journey all across Ireland; our heroic refusal, lest its -acceptance should in any way, even if it did not weaken our resolve, -compromise our principles.... His Excellency’s gracious nature has -kept no malice and he has since then publicly taken occasion to show -friendship for our Theatre. I felt it was a business forced upon him, -who had used his high office above all for reconcilement, as it was -upon me, who had lived under a peaceful star for some half a hundred -years. I think it was a relief to both of us when at last he asked -us to go on to the Castle and see again “a very experienced Official.” - -I may now quote again from my letters: “We found the Official rather -in a temper. He had been trying to hear Lord Aberdeen’s account -of the interview through the telephone and could not. We gave our -account, he rather threatening in tone, repeating a good deal of what -he had said before. He said we should be as much attacked as they, -whatever happened, and that men connected with two newspapers had -told him they were only waiting for an opportunity of attacking not -only the Lord Lieutenant but the Abbey, if the play is allowed; so -we should also catch it. I said, ‘_Après vous_.’ He said Mr. Yeats -had stated in the Patent Enquiry, the Abbey was for the production of -romantic work. I quoted Parnell, ‘Who shall set bounds to the march -of a Nation?’ We told him our Secretary had reported, ‘Very heavy -booking, first class people, _a great many from the Castle_.’ - -“He said he would see the Lord Lieutenant on his way home. We went to -Dame Street Post Office and wired to Mr. Shaw: ‘Have seen Viceroy. -Deleted immoral relations, refused other cuts. He is writing to King, -who supports Censor.” - -Then, as holder of the Patent, I took counsel’s opinion on certain -legal points, of which the most vital was this: - -“Should counsel be of opinion that the Crown will serve notice -requiring the play to be discontinued, then counsel will please -say what penalty he thinks querist would expose herself to -by disregarding the notice of the Crown and continuing the -representation?” - -The answer to this question was: - -“If the theatre ceases to be licensed, as pointed out above, and -any performance for gain takes place there, the penalty under the -26. Geo. III. cap 57, sec. (2) _is £300 for each offence_, to be -recovered in a ‘_qui tam_’ action; one half of the £300 going to the -Rotunda Hospital, the other half to the informer who sues.” - -Mr. Yeats and I were just going to a rehearsal at the Abbey on the -evening of August 21st when we received a letter from the Castle, -telling us that a formal legal document, forbidding the performance -of the play, would reach us immediately. The matter had now become -a very grave one. We knew that we should, if we went on and this -threat were carried out, lose not only the Patent but that the few -hundred pounds that we had been able to save and with which we could -have supported our players till they found other work, would be -forfeited. This thought of the players made us waver, and very sadly -we agreed that we must give up the fight. We did not say a word of -this at the Abbey but went on rehearsing as usual. When we had left -the Theatre and were walking through the lamp-lighted streets, we -found that during those two or three hours our minds had come to the -same decision, that we had given our word, that at all risks we must -keep it or it would never be trusted again; that we must in no case -go back, but must go on at any cost. - -We wrote a statement in which we told of the pressure put upon us and -the objections made, but of these last we said: “there is nothing -to change our conviction that so far from containing offence for -any sincere and honest mind, Mr. Shaw’s play is a high and weighty -argument upon the working of the Spirit of God in man’s heart, or to -show that it is not a befitting thing for us to set upon our stage -the work of an Irishman, who is also the most famous of living -dramatists, after that work has been silenced in London by what we -believe an unjust decision. - -“One thing” we continued, “is plain enough, an issue that swallows -up all else and makes the merit of Mr. Shaw’s play a secondary -thing. If our Patent is in danger, it is because the decisions of -the English Censor are being brought into Ireland, and because the -Lord Lieutenant is about to revive, on what we consider a frivolous -pretext, a right not exercised for a hundred and fifty years to -forbid, at the Lord Chamberlain’s pleasure, any play produced in any -Dublin theatre, all these theatres holding their Patents from him. - -“We are not concerned with the question of the English Censorship -now being fought out in London, but we are very certain that the -conditions of the two countries are different, and that we must not, -by accepting the English Censor’s ruling, give away anything of the -liberty of the Irish Theatre of the future. Neither can we accept -without protest the revival of the Lord Lieutenant’s claim at the -bidding of the Censor or otherwise. The Lord Lieutenant is definitely -a political personage, holding office from the party in power, and -what would sooner or later grow into a political Censorship cannot -be lightly accepted.” - -Having sent this out for publication, we went on with our rehearsals. - -In rehearsal I came to think that there was a passage that would -really seem irreverent and give offence to the genuinely religious -minds we respect. It was where Blanco said: “Yah! What about the -croup? I guess He made the croup when He was thinking of one thing; -and then He made the child when He was thinking of something else; -and the croup got past Him and killed the child. Some of us will have -to find out how to kill the croup, I guess. I think I’ll turn doctor -just on the chance of getting back on Him by doing something He -couldn’t do.” - -I wrote to Mr. Shaw about this, and he answered in this very -interesting letter: - - “Parknasilla, 19 August, 1909. - -“I have just arrived and found all your letters waiting for me. I am -naturally much entertained by your encounters and Yeats’ with the -Castle. I leave that building cheerfully in your hands. - -“But observe the final irony of the situation. The English Censorship -being too stupid to see the real blasphemy, makes a fool of itself. -But you, being clever enough to put your finger on it at once, -immediately proceed to delete what Redford’s blunders spared. - -“To me, of course, the whole purpose of the play lies in the problem, -‘What about the croup?’ When Lady ----, in her most superior manner, -told me, ‘He is the God of Love,’ I said, ‘He is also the God of -Cancer and Epilepsy.’ That does not present any difficulty to me. -All this problem of the origin of evil, the mystery of pain, and -so forth, does not puzzle me. My doctrine is that God proceeds by -the method of ‘Trial and error,’ just like a workman perfecting an -aeroplane; he has to make hands for himself and brains for himself in -order that his will may be done. He has tried lots of machines--the -diphtheria bacillus, the tiger, the cockroach; and he cannot -extirpate them, except by making something that can shoot them, or -walk on them, or, cleverer still, devise vaccines and anti-toxins to -prey on them. To me the sole hope of human salvation lies in teaching -Man to regard himself as an experiment in the realisation of God, -to regard his hands as God’s hands, his brain as God’s brain, his -purpose as God’s purpose. He must regard God as a helpless longing, -which _longed_ him into existence by its desperate need for an -executive organ. You will find it all in _Man and Super Man_, as you -will find it all behind _Blanco Posnet_. Take it out of my play, and -the play becomes nothing but the old cry of despair--Shakespeare’s, -‘As flies to wanton boys, so we are to the Gods; they kill us for -their sport’--the most frightful blasphemy ever uttered.” Mr. Shaw -enclosed with this the passage rewritten, as it now appears in the -published play. - -We put on _Blanco_ on the date announced, the 25th of August. We -were anxious to the last, for counsel were of the opinion that if we -were stopped, it would be on the Clause in the Patent against “Any -representation which should be deemed or construed immoral,” and that -if Archbishop Walsh or Archbishop Peacocke or especially the Head of -the Lord Lieutenant’s own Church, the Moderator of the Presbyterian -Assembly, should say anything which might be “deemed and construed” -to condemn the play, the threats made would be carried out. There -were fears of a riot also, for newspapers and their posters had kept -up the excitement, and there was an immense audience. It is a pity -we had not thought in time of putting up our prices. Guineas were -offered even for standing room in the wings. - -The play began, and till near the end it was received in perfect -silence. Perhaps the audience were waiting for the wicked bits to -begin. Then, at the end, there was a tremendous burst of cheering, -and we knew we had won. Some stranger outside asked what was going -on in the Theatre. “They are defying the Lord Lieutenant” was the -answer; and when the crowd heard the cheering, they took it up and it -went far out through the streets. - -There were no protests made on any side. And the play, though still -forbidden in England, is still played by us, and always with success. -And even if the protests hoped for had been made and we had suffered, -does not Nietzsche say “A good battle justifies every cause”? - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -“THE PLAYBOY” IN AMERICA - - -On September 7, 1911, I received a letter from Mr. Yeats: “I am -trying possible substitutes for Miss O’Neill and some will not do. -As a last resource I have told Miss Magee to understudy the part of -‘Pegeen Mike.’ She was entirely natural and delightful in that small -part in _The Mineral Workers_ the day before yesterday. I said to -some one that she had the sweet of the apple, and would be a Pegeen -Mike if she could get the sour of the apple too. Now the serious -difficulty of the moment is that there is nobody in the theatre -capable of teaching a folk part to an inexperienced person. If there -was, I would at once put Miss Magee into Pegeen Mike; by the time she -had played it through the States she could come back Miss O’Neill’s -successor. Now I am going to ask you if you feel well enough for a -desperate measure. Can you, if it seem necessary to-morrow, take my -place in the steamboat on Tuesday evening? Allowing eight days for -the passage--for the boat is slow--you would arrive in Boston on -the 20th. _The Playboy_ cannot come till about the 28th; you would -be able to train Miss Magee for the part, or, of course, another if -you prefer her.... I can wire to-morrow and get the necessary papers -made out (you have to swear you are not an Anarchist). If they want -me I can follow next boat and possibly arrive before you. I will go -steerage if necessary; that will be quite an amusing adventure, and -I shall escape all interviewers. One thing I am entirely sure of, -that there is no one but you with enough knowledge of folk to work a -miracle.” - -I could not set out on the same day as the Company. I was needed -at home. But I promised to follow in the _Cymric_, sailing from -Queenstown a week later. - -I think from the very first day Mr. Yeats and I had talked at Duras -of an Irish Theatre, and certainly ever since there had been a -company of Irish players, we had hoped and perhaps determined to go -to _An t-Oilean ur_ “the New Island,” the greater Ireland beyond the -Atlantic. But though, as some Connacht girls said to me at Buffalo, -“Since ever we were the height of the table, America it was always -our dream,” and though we had planned that if for any cause our -Theatre should seem to be nearing its end we would take our reserve -fund and spend it mainly on that voyage and that venture, we did not -ourselves make the opportunity at the last. After we had played in -the summer of 1911 at the Court Theatre, as ever for a longer period -and to a larger audience, we were made an offer by the theatrical -managers, Liebler & Co., to play for three or four months in the -United States, and the offer had been accepted. They had mentioned -certain plays as essential, among them _The Playboy of the Western -World_. Miss O’Neill, who had played its heroine, had married and -left us; that is how the difficulty had arisen. - -On September 19th I said good-bye to home, where I had meant to -spend a quiet winter, writing and planting trees, and to the little -granddaughter for whose first appearance in the world I had waited. -There had not been many days for preparation, but it was just as -well I did not require large trunks, for on the eve of my journey a -railway strike was declared in Ireland and there were no trains to -take any one to Queenstown. Motors are still few in the country. We -wired to Limerick but all were engaged already; to Galway which did -not answer at all; and to Loughrea, where the only one had already -been engaged by my neighbour, Lord Gough, who had friends with him -who also wanted means to travel. I could but send over a message to -his home, Lough Cutra Castle, in the dark of night; and a kindly -answer came that he would yield his claim to mine. So at midday on -September 19th, I set out with such luggage as I could take, to cross -the five counties that lay between me and Queenstown harbour. One -of the tires broke at intervals, once on the top of a wild mountain -in, I think, the County Limerick, and people came out from a lonely -cottage to say how far we were from any town or help; and these -delays kept us from reaching Cork till after dark. Then we went on -towards Queenstown in a fine rain which had begun, and after a while -when we stopped to ask the way we were told we had gone eight miles -beyond it. But I was in time after all, went out in the tender and -joined the _Cymric_ next morning, and so made my first voyage across -the ocean. The weather was rather cold and rough and I was glad of a -rest, and stayed a good deal in my cabin. I knew no one on board and -I had leisure to write a little play, _MacDonough’s Wife_, which had -been forming itself in my mind for a while past. - -I had always had a passion for the sea, as I saw it from our coasts -and in our bays and invers, and when going through the Mediterranean -and the Indian Ocean. But the great Atlantic seemed dark and dead and -monotonous, and it was a relief when on the last day or two one could -see whales spouting, and a sparrow came and perched on the ship; and -then fishing boats, looking strange in shape and rigging, came in -sight, and I felt like Christopher Columbus. - -Mr. Yeats, who had gone on with the Company, came to meet me on board -ship as we arrived at Boston on September 29th, St. Michael’s Day, -and told me of the success of the first performances there; and that -evening I went to the Plymouth Theatre and found a large audience, -and a very enthusiastic one, listening to the plays. I could not but -feel moved when I saw this, and remembered our small beginnings and -the years of effort and of discouragement. - -The interviewers saved me the trouble of writing letters these first -days. I sent papers home instead. It was my first experience of this -way of giving news, and I was amused by it. One always, I suppose, -likes talking about oneself and what one is interested in, and that -is what they asked me to do. I found them everywhere courteous, -mannerly, perhaps a little over-insistent. I think I only offended -one, a lady in a provincial town. She wanted to talk about _The -Playboy_, and for reasons of policy I didn’t. She avenged herself by -saying I had no sense of humour and that my dress (Paris!) “had no -relation to the prevailing modes.” - -I had plenty to do at first. I had not much time to go about, for I -rehearsed all the mornings and could not leave the theatre in the -evenings, but when I got free of constant rehearsal I was taken by -friends to see, as I longed to see, something of the country. I -wanted especially to know what the coast here was like--whether it -was very different from our own of Galway and of Clare; and I had -a wonderful Sunday at a fine country house on the North Shore, -and saw the islands and the reddish rocks, not like our grey ones -opposite; and the lovely tints of the autumn leaves, a red and yellow -undergrowth among the dark green trees. My hostess’s grandchildren -were playing about. One said, “I am going to be a bear,” and grunted. -It made me so glad to think the little grandson at home has a -playfellow in the making--in the cradle! - -Boston is a very friendly place. There are so many Irish there that I -had been told at home there is a part of it called Galway, and I met -many old friends. Some I had known as children, sons of tenants and -daughters, now comfortably settled in their own houses. I had known -of the nearness of America before I came, for I remember asking an -old woman at Kiltartan why her daughter who had been home on a visit -had left her again, and she had said, “Ah, her teeth were troubling -her and her dentist lives at Boston.” England, on the other hand, -seems a long way off, and there are many tears shed if a child goes -even to a good post over the Channel. Two dear old ladies came to -see me, daughters of an old steward of my father’s. One of them said -she used to “braid my hair” as a child that I might be in time for -family prayers, and had wept when she saw the snapshots in the papers -after I landed, and found I was so changed. She said, weeping, “I -hope the people of America know you are a real lady; if not, I could -testify to it!” And I was able to write to my son of the well-being -of tenants’ children: “T. C. and his wife came to the theatre and -brought me a beautiful bouquet of pink carnations. I had a visit from -M. R., such a handsome, smart girl, and from N. H., sending up her -visiting card, very pleased with herself. Many of the ladies I meet -tell me the cook or laundress or manservant are so excited at their -meeting me and know all about me.” And the son of a Welsh carpenter -who had lived at Roxborough in my childhood met me at the theatre -door after _Spreading the News_ and said, “I never thought, when you -used to teach us in Sunday School, you would ever write such merry -comedies.” This reminded me of the tailor from Gort who wrote home -after a visit to the Abbey, “No one who knows Lady Gregory would ever -think she had so much fun in her.” - -On October 8th I wrote home: “I send a paper with opinions for and -against the plays. I am afraid there may be demonstrations against -_Harvest_ and _The Playboy_. The Liebler people don’t mind, think it -will be an advertisement. I was cheered by a visit from some members -of the Gaelic League, saying they were on our side and asking me to -an entertainment next Sunday, and from D. K., who is very religious -and wants to go into a convent. She says the attacks on the plays -are by very few and don’t mean anything. Most of the society people -are in the country, but they motor in sixty or eighty miles for the -plays. Last night we had a little party on the stage: some Gaelic -Leaguers, who brought me a bouquet; some people from the Aran -colony--including Synge’s friend, McDonough, whom I had also known -in Aran; and from Kiltartan Mary R. and a cousin and Mrs. Hession’s -daughters, with the husband of one. They were very smart, one in a -white blouse, another in a blue one with pearl necklace. You must -tell Mrs. Hession they are looking so well. The management gave us -sandwiches on the stage, and punchbowls of claret cup, and we had -Irish songs and I called for a cheer for Ireland in Boston. I enjoyed -very much watching the Hession women at the play. They nearly got -hysterics in _Workhouse Ward_, and when the old woman comes on, they -did not laugh but bent forward and took it quite seriously. It shows -the plays would have a great success in the country. The County -Galway Woman’s League have asked me to be their president.... Members -of the Gaelic League are working a banner for me. They showed me the -painted design at a party given in our honour. Yeats leaves for New -York to-day, but comes back for first night of _The Playboy_ next -Monday and sails Tuesday. They are rather afraid of trouble, but I -think the less controversy the better now. It should be left between -the management and the audience. - -“The manager says we may stay longer in Boston, we are doing so well. -I should like to stay on. It is a homey sort of place. I am sent -quantities of flowers, my room is full of roses and carnations.” - - * * * * * - -Now as to the trouble over _The Playboy_. We were told, when we -arrived, that opposition was being organised from Dublin, and I -was told there had already been some attacks in a Jesuit paper, -_America_. But the first I saw was a letter in the _Boston Post_ -of October 4th, the writer of which did not wait for _The Playboy_ -to appear but attacked plays already given, _Birthright_ and -_Hyacinth Halvey_. The letter was headed in large type, “Dr. J. T. -Gallagher denounces the Irish Plays, says they are Vulgar, Unnatural, -Anti-National, and Anti-Christian.” The writer declared himself -astonished at “the parrot-like praise of the dramatic critics.” -He himself had seen these two plays and “my soul cried out for a -thousand tongues to voice my unutterable horror and disgust.... -I never saw anything so vulgar, vile, beastly, and unnatural, so -calculated to calumniate, degrade, and defame a people and all they -hold sacred and dear.” - -_Birthright_, written by a young National schoolmaster in County -Cork, had not been attacked in Ireland; both it and my own _Hyacinth_ -have been played not only at the Abbey but in the country towns and -villages with the approval of the priests and of the Gaelic League. -_Birthright_ is founded on some of the most ancient of stories, Cain -and Abel, Joseph and the pit, jealousy of the favoured younger by -the elder, a sudden anger, and “the voice of thy brother’s blood -crieth to me from the ground.” In a photograph of the last scene a -Boston photographer had, to fill his picture, brought on the father -and mother looking at the struggle between the brothers, instead of -coming in, as in the play, to find but a lifeless body before them. -This heartlessness was often brought up against us by some who had -seen the picture but not the play, and sometimes by those who had -seen both. - -_The Playboy_ was announced for October 16th, and on the 14th the -_Gaelic American_ printed a resolution of the United Irish Societies -of New York, in which they pledged themselves to “drive the vile -thing from the stage.” - -There was, however, very little opposition in the Plymouth Theatre. -There was a little booing and hissing, but there were a great many -Harvard boys among the audience and whenever there was a sign of -coming disapproval they cheered enough to drown it. Then they took to -cheering if any sentence or scene was coming that had been objected -to in the newspaper attacks, so, I am afraid, giving the impression -that they had a particular liking for strong expressions. We had, -as I have already told, cut out many of these long ago in Dublin, -and had never put them back when we played in England or elsewhere; -and so the enemy’s paper confessed almost sadly, “it was a revised -and amended edition that they saw ... the most offensive parts were -eliminated. It was this that prevented a riot.... But most of those -present and all the newspaper men had read the excised portions in -the _Gaelic American_ and were able to fill the gaps.” - -Because of the attacks in some papers, the Mayor of Boston sent his -secretary, Mr. William A. Leahy, to report upon _The Playboy_, and -the Police Commissioners also sent their censor. Both reports agreed -that the performance was not such as to “justify the elimination -of any portion of the play.” Mr. Leahy had already written of the -other plays: “I have seen the plays and admire them immensely. They -are most artistic, wonderfully acted, and to my mind absolutely -inoffensive to the patriotic Irishman. I regret the sensitiveness -that makes certain men censure them. Knowing what Mr. Yeats and Lady -Gregory want to do, I cannot but hope that they succeed and that -they are loyally supported in America. My commendation cannot be -expressed too forcibly.” And after he had seen _The Playboy_, he -wrote: “If obscenity is to be found on the stage in Boston, it must -be sought elsewhere and not at the Plymouth Theatre.” After speaking -with some sympathy of the objections made to the plays, he says: -“The mistake, however, lies in taking the pictures literally. Some -of these playwrights, of course, are realists or copyists of life -and like others of their kind they happen to prefer strong brine to -rosewater and see truth chiefly in the ugliness of things. But as it -happens the two remarkable men among the Irish playwrights are not -realists at all. Yeats and Synge are symbolists, and their plays are -as fantastic and fabulous as the Tales of the Round Table.” - -There was no further trouble at Boston. There was nothing but a -welcome for all the plays, many of them already so well known, -especially through Professor Baker’s dramatic classes at Harvard, -that we were now and again reproved by some one in the audience if a -line or passage were left out, by design or forgetfulness. I wrote -home on October 22nd: “Gaston Mayer came yesterday, representing -Liebler. They are delighted with our success, and want us, urged us, -to stay till May. We refused this, but will certainly stay January, -possibly a little longer. It is rather a question for the Company. -They want me to stay all the time. I said I would stay for the -present. If I get tired, Yeats will come back.... We had the sad news -last night that we are only to have one more week here, and are to -do some three night places, opening at Providence on the 30th. Mrs. -Gardner came to the theatre this morning, furious at our going so -soon.” - -We said farewell to Boston October 30th. Yet it was not quite -farewell, for on our last day in America--March 5th--we stopped there -on the way from Chicago to New York and gave a “flying matinée”; and -I brought home the impression of that kind, crowded audience, and the -knowledge that having come among strangers, we left real friends. - -On October 13th I had written from Boston: “I am sorry to say Flynn -(Liebler’s special agent), who has been to Providence, announces -strong opposition to _The Playboy_. A delegation came to demand -its withdrawal, but he refused. I had also a letter saying the -Clan-na-Gael was very strong there, and advising that we have police -at hand. Of course, had we known this, we should not have put on -_The Playboy_, but we must fight it out now. The danger is in not -knowing whether we shall get any strong support there. A Harvard lad -has interviewed me for a magazine. He promised to try and make up a -party to go to Providence Tuesday night, and also to stir up Brown -University.” - -Though we all grieved at leaving friendly Boston, we found friends -also at Providence, with its pleasant name and hilly streets and -stately old dwelling houses. But a protest had been made before we -arrived, and a committee had waited on the Police Commissioners and -presented a petition asking them to forbid the performance of _The -Playboy_. - -“I had to appear before the Police Commissioners this morning. The -accusations were absurd and easy to answer; most of them founded upon -passages which have never been said upon the stage. I wish I had -been allowed to take a copy. There was one clause which accused us -of ‘giving the world to understand a barbarous marriage custom was -in ordinary use in Ireland.’ This alluded to the ‘drift of chosen -females from the Eastern World,’ one of those flights of Christy -Mahon’s fancy which have given so much offence. I showed them the -prompt copy with the acting version we have always used. Unluckily -the enemy didn’t turn up. Of course the play is to be let go on, and -there are to be plenty of policemen present in case of disturbance. -The police people said they had had the same trouble about a negro -play said to misrepresent people of colour. - -“The Police Commissioners themselves attended and have published -a report, saying they not only found nothing to object to in the -play but enjoyed every minute of it. Nevertheless, the protesting -committee published its statement: ‘How well our objections were -founded may be judged from the fact that the Company acting this play -has agreed to eliminate from it each and every scene, situation, -and word to which we objected, and it is on the basis of this -elimination that the play has been permitted to go on.’ And I gave -my answer: ‘I think it may be as well to state that we gave the play -to-night exactly as it has been given in London, Oxford, Cambridge, -Manchester, and many cities in Ireland and the other night in -Boston. The players have never at any time anywhere spoken all the -lines in the published book.’” And after its production I wrote home: -“Nov. 1st. _The Playboy_ went very well last night, not an attempt to -hiss.” - -From another town--Lowell--I wrote: “A newspaper man from Tyrone -lamented last night the _Playboy_ fight. He said all nationalities -here are very sensitive. The Swedes had a play taken off that -represented some Swedish women drinking. The French Canadians, he -says, are as touchy as the Irish. He said that in consequence of this -sensitiveness, in the police reports the nationality of those brought -up before the court is not given. I looked in the Lowell newspaper -next day, and I saw that this was true. One José Viatchka was brought -up charged with the theft of two yards of cloth. She was found guilty -and her nationality was not given. Allan Carter made his second -appearance for drunkenness. Being an American citizen, even his -dwelling place, Canaan, N. H., was not kept secret. Thomas Kilkelly -and Daniel O’Leary were fined for drunkenness. I felt very glad that -their nationality was not given!” - -Yale like Harvard demanded _The Playboy_, and we put it on for one -night at New Haven. Synge’s plays and others on our list are being -used in the course of English literature there, and professors and -students wanted to see them. We were there for Monday and Tuesday, -the 6th and 7th of November. On the first night we put on other -plays. Next day there was a matinée and we gave Mr. Bernard Shaw’s -_Blanco Posnet_ and my own _Image_. I left before the matinée was -over for Northampton, as I was to lecture that night at Smith -College. Next day I was astonished to see a paragraph in a New -Haven paper, saying that the Mayor, having been asked to forbid -the performance of _The Playboy_, had sent his censor, the Chief -of Police, Mr. Cowles, to attend a rehearsal of it; that several -passages had been objected to by him and that the manager had in -consequence suppressed them, and it had been given at the evening -performance without the offending passages. I was astounded. I knew -the report could not be correct, must be wholly incorrect, and yet -one knows there is never smoke without even a sod of turf. The -players, who arrived at Northampton that morning, were equally -puzzled. There had been no rehearsal, and the play had been given as -ever before. I wired to a friend, the head of the University Press -at Yale, to investigate the matter. The explanation came: “Chief -Cowles,” as the papers called him, had attended, not a rehearsal but -the matinée. He was said to have objected to certain passages, though -he had not sent word of this to any of our people. The passages -he objected to were not spoken at the evening performance of _The -Playboy_, because the play in which they are spoken was _Blanco -Posnet_. Yale laughed over this till we could almost hear the echoes, -indeed the echoes appeared in the next day’s papers. _The Gaelic -American_, however, announced that in New Haven one of our plays -“was allowed to be presented only after careful excision of obscene -passages.” - -Washington was the next place where _The Playboy_ was to appear. I -wrote home from there on November 12th: “Liebler’s Manager wired -for me to come on here and skip Albany. To-day two or three priests -preached against us, and a pamphlet has been given away at the chapel -doors denouncing us. I think it would be a good thing to put it up -in the Hall of the Abbey framed for Dublin people to see. The worst -news is that the players have arrived without Sinclair. He had a fall -down six steps when coming down to the stage at Albany and hurt his -back. The doctor said it was only the muscles that were hurt and that -he would be all right to-day, but he has wired to-day that he cannot -move. A bad performance would worry me more than the pamphlet. - -“These are some of its paragraphs: - -“‘The attention of fair-minded Washingtonians is called to a most -malignant travesty of Irish life and religion about to be presented -upon the stage of a local theatre by the “Irish Players.” This -travelling Company is advertised as “coming from the Abbey Theatre, -Dublin.” True, but they came from Dublin, followed by the hisses and -indignation of an outraged populace! - -“‘A storm of bitter protest has been raised in every city in which -they have presented their false and revolting pictures of Irish life. -Dublin people never accepted the plays. They virtually kicked them -from the stage. England gave them no reception.’ - -“Then they quote ‘a Boston critic’ (this is Dr. Gallagher, who wrote -that letter to the Boston papers): - -“‘“Nothing but hell-inspired ingenuity and a satanic hatred of -the Irish people and their religion could suggest, construct, and -influence the production of such plays. On God’s earth the beastly -creatures of the plays never existed.” - -“‘Such are the productions which, hissed from Dublin, hawked around -England by the “Irish Players” for the delectation of those who -wished to see Irishmen shown unfit for self-government, are now -offered to the people of Washington. Will Washington tolerate the lie? - - “‘THE ALOYSIUS TRUTH SOCIETY.’ - -“This is the first time any section of the Catholic Church has come -into the fight. It is a good thing they denounce all the plays, not -only _The Playboy_. On the other hand, the Gaelic Association, of -which Monsignor Shahan, President of the Catholic University, is -head, has asked me to address its meeting next Thursday, and, of -course, I shall do so. - -“This invitation was incorrectly reported in the papers, and -Monsignor Shahan, who is just leaving for Rome, has denied having -‘invited the Irish Players to speak.’ The invitations sent out, -printed cards with his printed signature, had asked people to come -and hear me speak, and I did so and had a good audience; and a -resolution was proposed, praising all I had done for literature -and the theatre, and making me the first Honorary Member of the -Association, and this was agreed to by the whole meeting with -applause.” - -For among the surprises of the autumn I had suddenly found that I -could speak. I was quite miserable when, on arriving in Boston, I -found it had been arranged for me to “say a few words” at various -clubs or gatherings. I thought a regular lecture would be better. -If it failed, I would not be asked again or I would have an excuse -for silence. It would be easier, too, in a way than the “few words,” -for I should know how long the lecture ought to be and what people -wanted to hear about, and I would have the assurance that they knew -what they were coming for instead of having a stranger let loose on -them just as they were finishing their lunch. It was at one of these -lunches that that wonderful woman who has in Boston, as the Medici -in Florence, spent wealth and vitality and knowledge in making such -a collection of noble pictures as proves once more that it is the -individual, the despot, who is necessary for such a task--bringing -the clear conception, the decision of one mind in place of the -confusion of many--liked what I said and offered me for my first -trial the spacious music room of Fenway Court. - -I spoke on play-writing, for I had begun that art so late in life that -its rules, those I had worked out for myself or learned from others, -were still fresh in my mind; and I wrote home with more cheerfulness -than I had felt during the days of preparation, that I thought and -was assured my address had gone well; “what I was most proud of was -keeping it exactly to the hour. I was glad to find I could fill up -so much time. I had notes on the table and just glanced at them now -and again but didn’t hesitate for a word or miss my points. It is a -great relief to me and the discovery of a new faculty. I shan’t feel -nervous again; that is a great thing.” - -I had boasted of this a little too soon, for the next letter says: -“I had a nice drive yesterday, twenty-five miles to B. A lady called -for me in her motor, and we passed through several pretty little New -England villages and through woods. Then a wait of an hour before -lecture, keeping up small talk and feeling nervous all the time, then -the lecture. I forgot to bring my watch and gave them twenty minutes -over the hour! It was a difficult place to speak in, a private -house,--a room to the right, a room to the left, and a room behind. -However they seemed to hear all right.... I had a nice run home alone -in the dark.” - -I gave my ideas on “play-writing” again at Philadelphia, and was told -just before I began that there were several dramatists in the room, -including the author of _Madame Butterfly_. So I had to apologise -on the ground of an inferior cook being flattered at being asked to -give recipes, whereas a real _chef_ keeps the secrets to himself. And -sometimes at the end of all my instruction on the rules I gave the -hearers as a benediction, - - “And may you better reck the rede - Than ever did the adviser!” - -Mr. Yeats, when lecturing in America, had written to me from Bryn -Mawr: “I have just given my second lecture.... They are getting all -our books here now. Do you know I have not met a single woman here -who puts ‘tin-tacks in the soup,’ and I find that the woman who does, -is recognised as an English type. One teacher explained to me the -difference in this way: ‘We prepare the girls to live their lives, -but in England they are making them all teachers.’” - -And I also was delighted with the girls’ colleges and wrote home: - -“At Vassar the girls were playing a football game in sympathy with -the Harvard and Yale match going on. They were all dressed as boys, -had made up trousers, or knickers, and some were playing on combs -to represent a band, and singing the Yale song, though the sham -Harvard had beaten the sham Yale by 25 to 5. They are nice, merry -girls, I think as nice as at Smith’s, where I promised to suggest -my granddaughter should be educated. I had an audience of about six -hundred, a very good and pleasant one, nearly all girls and a few -men. The President was sitting close to the door, and I asked him -to call out to me to speak up if he didn’t hear, as I was young as -a lecturer and always afraid my voice might not reach. He said he -would not like to do that, but would hold up a handkerchief if I -was to speak louder. About the middle of the lecture I saw him very -slowly raise a handkerchief to the level of his face, but I could -not catch his eye, so I stopped and asked if that was the signal. -He was quite confused and said, No, he wanted to blow his nose, and -the girls shrieked with delight. He told me afterwards he had held -out as long as he could. The girls had acted some of my plays. _The -Jackdaw_ is a great favourite there as well as at Smith’s, where they -have conjugated a verb ‘to Jackdaw.’ One of the ‘Faculty’ said she -doubted if our players could do _Gaol Gate_ as well as Mr. Kennedy, -the author of _The Servant in the House_, reads it....” - -These lectures gave me opportunity of seeing many places where our -plays did not go, and I have delighted memories of rushing waters in -Detroit, and of little girls dancing in cruciform Columbus, and of -the roar of Niagara Falls, and the stillness of the power house that -sends that great energy to create light and motion a hundred or two -hundred miles away, and of many another wide-spreading, kindly city -where strangers welcomed me, and I seemed to say good-bye to friends. -Dozing in midnight trains, I would remember, as in a dream, “the -flight of a bird through a lighted hall,” the old parable of human -life. - -To return to the meeting at Washington: - -“I had to get away early because Mrs. Taft had asked me to the White -House to hear the Mormon choir. I arrived there rather late but the -music was going on. It was a very pretty sight, the long white room -with fine old glass chandeliers, and two hundred Mormons--the men -in black, the women in white--and about fifty guests. I heard one -chorus, and they sang ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ and everyone stood -up. Then we moved about and chatted, and I was presented to the -President--pleasant enough, but one doesn’t feel him on the stage -like Roosevelt. - -“To-day I had a very scattered rehearsal of _Spreading the News_. The -players kept slipping out by a back door, and I found the negroes -were dancing and singing out there, it being their dinner hour. It -was, of course, irresistible.” - -One day when we went to rehearsal, the sun was shining and I offered -the players a holiday and picnic to Mount Vernon, and we crossed -the river and spent the day there very pleasantly. Donovan said, -“No wonder a man should fight for such a home as this.” I told them -the holiday was not a precedent, for we might go to a great many -countries before finding so great a man to honour. Washington had -been a friend of my grandfather’s, who had been in America with his -regiment. There was a case of stuffed birds at Roxborough which was -said to have been a present from Washington, and there was a field -there called Mount Vernon. My grandfather had built a little sea -lodge on the Burren coast and had called that also Mount Vernon, so -I was specially interested in seeing the house. It is beautifully -kept and filled with memorials of its owner and with furniture that -belonged to him. The Americans keep their sacred places well. A -school at which I lectured wanted to give me a fee; but I did not -wish to take one, and I said when they pressed it, that I had seen -in a shop window an old jug with portraits of Washington and of -Lafayette on it, and had wished for it, but it was nine dollars and -I was refraining from luxuries, and that I would accept that if they -liked. So it was sent to me, and I brought it safely home to add -to my collection of historic delft. It has the date 1824. It was -made to commemorate Lafayette’s visit at that time, and the words on -it are, “A Republic is not always ungrateful.” It now stands near -another jug of about the same date, on which there is the portrait of -that other patriot beloved by his people, O’Connell. - -On November 18th I arrived at New York. All my work was easier from -that time through the help of my friend of some ten years, Mr. John -Quinn. I had a pleasant little set of rooms at the Algonquin Hotel. -I said to Mr. Flynn, Liebler’s manager, when I arrived there, “Is it -near the theatre? Shall I be able to walk there?” “Walk there,” he -said, “why you could throw a cricket ball to it.” I did walk there -and back many times a day during my stay, and grew fond of the little -corner of the city I got to know so well; but I sometimes envied the -cricket ball that would have escaped the dangerous excitement of the -five crossings, one of them across 6th Avenue, with motors dashing in -all directions, and railway trains thundering overhead. The theatre -was charming, I wish we could carry it about on all our tours, and -I was given a little room off the stage, which had been Maxine -Elliott’s own room, and where players and guests often had tea with -me. - -“Hotel Algonquin, New York, Monday, 20th November. We opened very -well last night. A crowded house and very enthusiastic, _Rising of -the Moon_, _Birthright_, and _Spreading the News_ were given. All got -five or more curtains. One man made rather a disturbance at the fight -in _Birthright_, saying it was ‘not Irish,’ but his voice was drowned -and he left. I was told that ---- one of the enemy who was there, -said, ‘Such things do not happen in Ireland; they may happen in Lady -Gregory’s own family.’ _The Playboy_ is to be put on next week. J. -Q. seems a bit anxious about _The Playboy_; says they may ‘throw -things,’ and that seems what the _Gaelic American_ is inviting them -to do when it says _The Playboy_ ‘must be squelched’ and a lesson -taught to Mr. Yeats and his fellow-agents of England, and that I have -no right to appeal for respect for my sex. - -“Last night as I went into the theatre I heard my name spoken, and a -girl told me she was the daughter of old Matt Cahel, the blacksmith -who had lived at Roxborough, and she had come to see the plays and -said her father would have been so proud, if he had lived, to know -I was here. I am glad of this, for I hear the plays were preached -against by some priests last Sunday. Father Flanagan thinks the -attacks all come from Dublin. The players are convinced they are from -some of our non-paying guests.... I think we must revise that list. -_The Playboy_ is to be put on next Monday. I am glad they are not -putting off the fight any longer. It tries the players’ nerves. It -will be on for four nights and a matinée. By going behind myself and -gathering a party and cheering with what voice I had left, I at last -got the shouts for Hughie in _Birthright_ to be less of a mournful -wail.” - -“Friday, November 24th. I have been to-day to lunch with Mrs. ----, -a Catholic lady I had met in London, who gave a lunch to me to show -she was on our side. There was a Father X. there, who is not in this -diocese and is very much shocked at the action of the priests. One -told his congregation on Sunday from the altar, it would be a mortal -sin to come to the plays, and another, Father X. says, to his certain -knowledge advised his people from the altar if they did come, to -bring eggs to throw. Mr. Hackett was sitting behind a woman who said -in _Birthright_ ‘it’s a pity it ain’t Lady Gregory they are choking.’ -Mr. Quinn heard I held a salon at the theatre and it is wonderful -how many people turn up or come to express sympathy. I got a good -rehearsal to-day of _Mixed Marriage_, which I think might take very -well here.” - -“26th. Plenty of booking for _Playboy_ whether by friends or enemies. -I went to lecture at Vassar yesterday. I had no idea the Hudson was -so beautiful. The train was close to the brink all the way, and -opposite are wooded cliffs and heights, and at night, coming back, -the lighted towns on the other side gave a magic atmosphere. I find -new scenery an extraordinary excitement and delight. I am going off -just now to Oyster Bay for the night to visit the Roosevelts. I have -been to church this morning and feel fresher.” - -“Algonquin, Monday, 27th. When John Quinn came yesterday afternoon, -he brought Gregg with him. Both had heard from different sources that -_The Playboy_ is to be attacked to-night. The last _Gaelic American_ -says, ‘The New York Irish will send the Anti-Irish Players back to -Dublin like whipped curs with their tails between their legs.’ Quinn -heard it from a man he knows well, who had called him up to say there -is a party of rowdies coming to the theatre to-night to make their -demonstration. They thought it possible this might be stopped by -letting the enemy know we are prepared, but I thought it better to -let them show themselves. They have been threatening us so long; we -shall see who they are. - -“This morning I saw Flynn and Gaston Mayer and told them the matter -was out of my hands now, that we don’t want interviews or argument, -and that it is a question between Liebler and the mob. Flynn went off -to the police, and I have not heard anything since. I have not told -the players.” - -“Tuesday, November 28th. The papers give a fairly accurate account -of what happened last night.[1] There was a large audience, _The -Gaol Gate_ was put on first, which, of course, has never offended -anyone in Ireland, but there was a good deal of coughing going on -and there was unrest in the gallery. But one man was heard saying to -another, ‘This is all right. You needn’t interrupt this. Irishmen -do die for their neighbours.’ Another said, ‘This is a part of _The -Playboy_ that is going on now, but they are giving it under another -name.’ Very soon after the curtain went up on _The Playboy_ the -interruptions began. The managers had been taking much too confident -a view, saying, ‘These things don’t happen in New York.’ When this -did happen, there were plenty of police, but they wouldn’t arrest -anyone because no one gave the order, and the disturbance was let -go on nearly all through the first act. I went round, when the -disturbance began, and knelt in the opening of the hearth, calling -to every actor who came within earshot that they must not stop for -a moment but must spare their voices, as they could not be heard, -and we should do the whole act over again. At the end Tyler came -round and I was delighted when he shouted that it should be played -again. O’Donovan announced this and there were great cheers from the -audience. And the whole play was given then in perfect peace and -quiet. The editor of the _Gaelic American_ and his bodyguard were -in the stalls, two rows of them. They were pointed out to me when I -came in. The disturbers were very well arranged; little groups here -and there. In the box office this morning they have a collection of -spoils left by the enemy (chiefly stink-pots and rosaries). A good -many potatoes were thrown on the stage and an old watch, and a tin -box with a cigar in it and a cigarette box. Our victory was complete -in the end. - -[1] See extract in appendix. - -“Ten men were arrested. Two of them were bar-tenders; one a liquor -dealer; two clerks; one a harness-maker; one an instructor; one a -mason; one a compositor, and one an electrician. - -“Some of the police who protected us were Irish. One of them said -to our manager, Mr. Robinson: ‘There’s a Kerryman says he has you -pictured and says he’ll have your life.’ Mr. Robinson had had some -words with this Kerryman and had said: ‘We’ll give you a supper when -you come to Dublin,’ and the Kerryman had answered, ‘We’ll give you a -wake.’ - -“The disturbers were fined sums from three to ten dollars each.” - -“28th. I was talking to Roosevelt about the opposition on Sunday and -he said he could not get in to the plays: Mrs. Roosevelt not being -well, he did not like to leave home. But when I said it would be a -help to us, he said, ‘Then I will certainly come,’ and settled that -to-night he will dine with me and come on.” - -“Wednesday, 29th. I was in such a rush last night I sent off my -letters very untidily. I hadn’t time even to change my dress for -dinner. It went off very well. John Quinn, Col. Emmet, grand-nephew -of the Patriot, Mr. Flynn. I had asked Peter Dunne (Mr. Dooley) -but he was engaged to dinner at eight at the Guinnesses. He came, -however, at seven and sat through ours. He was very amusing, and he -and Roosevelt chaffed each other.... When we got to the theatre and -into the box, people saw Roosevelt and began to clap and at last he -had to get up, and he took my hand and dragged me on my feet too, and -there was renewed clapping.... Towards the end of _Gaol Gate_ there -was a great outbreak of coughing and sneezing, and then there was a -scuffle in the gallery and a man throwing pepper was put out. There -was a scuffle now and then during _The Playboy_ but nothing violent -and always great clapping when the offender was thrown out. We played -with the lights up. After the first act I took my party on to the -stage and introduced the players, and Roosevelt spoke separately to -them and then made a little speech, saying how much he admired them -and that he felt they were doing a great deal to increase the dignity -of Ireland (he has adopted my phrase) and that he ‘envied them and -Lady Gregory for America.’ They were quite delighted and Kerrigan had -tears in his eyes. Roosevelt’s daughter, who was with another party, -then appeared and he introduced her to them, remembering all the -names, ‘This is Mr. Morgan, this is Miss Magee....’ I brought him a -cup of tea and it was hard to tear him away when the curtain went up. - -“I stayed in my room writing letters through the second act, and when -I came back, a swarm of reporters was surrounding Roosevelt and he -was declaring from the box, ‘I would as soon discuss the question as -discuss a pipe dream with an out-patient of Bedlam.’ This was about -an accusation they had just shown him in some paper, saying he had -had a secret understanding with some trusts. He was shaking his fist -and saying, ‘I am giving you that straight; mind you, take it down as -I say it.’ When the play was over, he stayed in the box a few minutes -discussing it; he said he would contribute a note on an article he -wants John Quinn to write about us. When we left the box, we found -the whole route to the door packed, just a narrow lane we could walk -through, and everyone taking off hats and looking at him with real -reverence and affection, so unlike those royal crowds in London. It -was an extraordinary kindness that he did us.” - -The Mayor had received a protest against the play and on that second -night he sent as his representative the Chief Magistrate, Mr. McAdoo, -who had formerly been a member of Congress, had served as Assistant -Secretary of the Navy and as Police Commissioner of New York, and is -a leading citizen of the city. - -The _New York Sun_, in the issue of November 30th, summarised his -report: - -“Chief Magistrate McAdoo, who was sent by Mayor Gaynor on Tuesday -night to see _The Playboy of the Western World_, wrote to the Mayor -yesterday that he had sat through the play and had seen nothing in -it to warrant the fuss which some Irishmen were making. Magistrate -McAdoo told the Mayor that it was not nearly as objectionable as -scores of American plays he had seen in this city and that there was -no reason why the Mayor should either order the withdrawal of the -play or suspend the licence of Maxine Elliott’s Theatre. The Mayor -said that the letter had satisfied him that there was no need of any -action by the city and that so far as he was concerned the matter was -closed.” - -“Of the few arrested on the second night one was an Englishman, who -objected to British soldiers being spoken of as ‘khaki cut-throats,’ -and one was a Jew, who did not give his reasons. For the accusations -were getting more and more mixed. A man was heard asking outside the -Maxine Elliott Theatre during the riot, ‘What is on to-night?’ and -the answer was, ‘There’s a Jewman inside has a French play and he’s -letting on it’s Irish, and some of the lads are inside talking to -them.’ - -“I have had a nice letter from Rothenstein. He is here painting some -portraits. He says, ‘I would have been to pay you my respects but -unhappily I have for the second time been laid up. I hope I may still -get the chance, and that the charming and brilliant people I saw -with such delight in London are getting their due. I want to bring -some friends to see them this week, and am looking forward to the -pleasure of seeing them again.’ This was written on the morning of -the 28th, and he adds a postscript: ‘Since writing I see at breakfast -an account of a big fuss you had last night. I think it is a fine -thing that a work of art should have so vital an effect on people -that they feel towards it as they do towards life, and wish to exalt -or to destroy it. In these days when there is so little understanding -of the content and so much said about the technique of these things, -I do feel refreshed that such a thing can happen. I hope the physical -experience was not too trying. I admire the courage and determination -which both sides showed. If a country can produce so great a man as -Synge and a public so spirited that it will protest against what -seems a wrong presentment of life to them, then we may still have -hope that art will find a place by the fireside. I take my hat off to -you all.’” - -“December 1st. All well last night. Galleries filled, and apparently -with Irish, all applauding, not one hiss. - -“I was asked at a tea-party ‘what was my moral purpose in writing -_The Playboy_!’” - -Mr. Yeats wrote from Dublin when he heard of the riot: “December 3d. -What a courageous man Roosevelt is! I mean courageous to go so much -beyond official routine. I think it is the best thing that has ever -happened to us so far as opinion here is concerned. The papers here -have been exceedingly venomous. I am having a baize-covered board -with a glass frame to fit in it put up in the vestibule, and promised -the audience yesterday, speaking from the stage, that I would put -up the American notices as they reached us, good and bad alike. At -present I have put up an old picture frame with the rather lengthy -London notices of the row. I think it wise that our own people should -know that they see there on the board some proof of the reception we -are getting.... Shaw has just sent me a copy of an interview he is -sending to the _New York Sun_. He says you are ‘the greatest living -Irishwoman,’ and adds you will beat the Clan na Gael as you beat the -Castle. He makes a most amusing and ferocious attack on the Clan na -Gael, and says they are not Irish.... But I forgot, you will have -read it before this reaches you. I hope he will not have left you all -in the plight the little boy was in after Don Quixote had beaten -his master. He will, at any rate, have amused New York, which does -not care for the Clan, and all fuel helps when one wants a fire. I -am pleased that he has seen the issue--that we are the true Ireland -fighting the false.” - -I wrote home on December 1st. “The Company have signed on till end of -February, so I shall most likely stay till then. The only thing I am -at all afraid of is want of sleep. I don’t get much. Everyone says -the climate here is exciting, but I may get used to it, and we have -had exciting times. - -“I have made my little room off the stage into a greenroom, and -brought some books there and made regular arrangements for tea. -There are no greenrooms in these theatres and the Company look -rather miserable straying about. Mrs. G. is lending me her motor -this afternoon and I am taking some of the players for a drive and -to Quinn’s for tea. He is such a help to me, so capable and kind. My -December horoscope, I remember, said, ‘Benefit through friends’ and -I think it comes about a month wrong and that things happen in the -previous month, for in November I had help from him and Bernard Shaw -and Roosevelt! - -“A priest came in yesterday to express his sympathy, and attended -the plays, and I took him round to see the players. So far ‘the -Church’ has not pronounced against us, only individual priests.... -The servant maids are told we are ‘come to mock Ireland.’ We are -answering nothing now, just going on. Bernard Shaw’s article is -splendid, going to the root of the matter, as you say. I am just now -going over to the theatre to see the start of the voice-production -classes.... I determined there should be a beginning.” - -“Dec. 12th. The luncheon with the _Outlook_ was great fun. There were -present the editors, an Admiral, and some other military heroes, and -after lunch some one called for silence ‘that Lady Gregory might -be questioned.’ So they asked questions from here and there, and -I gave answers. For instance, they asked if the riot had affected -our audience, and I said, yes, I was afraid more people had come -to see us pelted than playing. And that I had met a few nights -before in Buffalo a General Green, who told me that when driving -through crowds cheering for Roosevelt, he had said to Roosevelt, -‘Theodore, don’t you feel elated by this?’ And Mr. Roosevelt had -said, ‘Frank, I always keep in mind what the Duke of Wellington said -on a similar occasion, “How many more would come to see me hanged”’ -(great applause).... Someone asked me why I had worked so hard at the -Theatre, and I quoted Blake: - - I will not cease from mental strife - Or let the sword fall from my hand - Till we have built Jerusalem - In--Ireland’s--fair and lovely land. - -“For, I said, it was a part of the building of Jerusalem. This went -very well, and in my lecture at Brooklyn in the evening I tried it -again, but it was received with roars of delighted laughter. It was -explained to me afterwards that a part of Brooklyn is full of Jews, -who are trying to turn it into a Jerusalem of their own! - -“Oh, I am tired to-night!” - -“Dec. 15th. Mrs. ----, the Catholic friend who is working for us, is -sending to-day to the _Tablet_ a very good notice of us written by -a priest. She says educated priests and Catholics generally are so -much ashamed of the riot that they give out it was got up by the -management! She wanted me to have this contradicted, but of course -it would be useless. I have just had the _Outlook_ and will send it -on to you. Roosevelt ‘commanded’ Quinn to write an article on us. He -said he couldn’t, but I think it is charming.” - -“Sunday, 27th. I don’t think the Church will really turn on us. It -would bring it into a fight with all the theatres and that would make -it unpopular. Here Catholics take care to say, ‘It is not the Church -that is against you, only certain priests.’ Father Y. telephoned me -this afternoon, saying he was praying for us every day and for the -success of our work, and that he thinks _Workhouse Ward_ as fine as -Shakespeare! Another priest, Father Z., Chaplain in the Navy, has -asked me to tea, and says he will come to see the plays, only not -_The Playboy_.” - -“A nice matinée yesterday. My friend the wild Irishman who comes to -the theatre, tells me the Irish are ‘waiting for us’ in Chicago, but -I don’t see what they can do. - -“The _Gaelic American_ is firing a very distant and random gun now -though it has headed an article ‘_Playboy_ as dead as a nail in a -door.’ I have just been reading Masefield’s _Everlasting Mercy_. -How fine it is, as fine as _Nan_, but leading to Heaven and the -wholesomeness of earth instead of poison pies! - -“Mrs. ---- gave a tea for me yesterday, and people seemed -enthusiastic and there is evidently a great deal of talk about us; -but it is just like London, we are building downwards from the -intellectuals. _Image_ went so well last night I was glad I had put -it on. Quinn was delighted with the scene and grouping. He thought -each scene like an Augustus John drawing.... I believe the critics -are bewildered because of so much new work. Priests keep dropping -in and seem to enjoy the plays, and O’S. told me last night all the -young men are either coming to see us or if they have no money, are -reading our plays at the library and getting up debates concerning -them. - -“A lady at Philadelphia said to another, ‘What did you really think -of _Lady Gregory’s_ play, _The “Cowboy” of the Western World_!’ - -“Many happy New Years to you!” - -“December 29th. I am too tired to write a letter. This is just to say -all is going well, big houses on these last nights. _Kathleen_ and -_The Playboy_ both go extremely well. We have got the audience, and -I believe, and everyone says, we could now run on for weeks, but the -theatre is let to someone else. It is just as well leaving at the top -of the wave. Next week six towns, then Philadelphia.” - -“January 2d. I had a talk with Tyler. He was nice, and they want us -to confirm the contract for next year. Talking of the opposition he -said, ‘The Irish seem to be always afraid of things.’ ... Last week -was a real triumph.” - -“Philadelphia, January 9, 1912. I am staying here with Mr. and Mrs. -Jayne, in a beautiful house, with great kindness from my host and -hostess. We opened very well last night. We had a very appreciative -audience. Mr. and Mrs. ---- afterwards gave a supper for me and -presented me with an immense basket of roses. - -“We dined on Sunday night with Dr. Furness, the old Shakesperean -scholar. We went by rail and had to walk a little way to his -house. It was four degrees above zero but so still it didn’t seem -cold. There has been a good deal of snow, and the streets are very -slippery. It is impossible to walk at all without goloshes. - -“Mr. Jayne went after dinner to a meeting of a philosophical society -founded by Franklin. He brought back philosophers and learned men of -all sorts. We talked on astronomy. I told them I had once walked down -the tube of Lord Rosse’s big telescope. Mr. Jayne told of Herschel -having his telescope brought to him when he was old that he might -look at Orion and remember it as his last view of the heavens. - -“The Jaynes and some of the philosophers went on to a ball at the -Assembly Rooms, and I was invited. It gave me a sense of Philadelphia -being a community of its own--very entertaining. - -“A Rev. John ---- called on me yesterday, sending in a message that I -used to teach him his catechism at Killinane Church. I had forgotten, -but remembered him as a little Protestant boy. Something made me ask -what church he belonged to. ‘Catholic.’ I said: ‘My catechism didn’t -do much good then?’ ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I was an Anglican clergyman for -a great many years.’ ‘Why did you change?’ ‘Because of authority. I -wanted authority, and I cannot give up the belief in the divinity -of our dear Lord.’ ‘But we believe that.’ ‘No, it’s being given -up little by little, and the bishops seemed uncertain. I wanted -authority.’ - -“When we parted we talked about Roxborough thirty-eight years ago. I -said, ‘We must say a little prayer now and again for each other.’ He -said, ‘Will you please say a great many for me.’ - -“By orders from New York two secret service men were sent to see me -safely home from the theatre, quite unnecessary for Mr. Jayne, who is -a leading lawyer, was sufficient escort.” - -“January 16th. We had a little trouble last night, the first of -_The Playboy_. The first act hadn’t gone far when a man got up and -protested loudly and wouldn’t stop. Others shouted to him to go out -or keep quiet, and called out ‘New York Irish,’ but it was a good -while before the police could be stirred up to remove him. By that -time another man in the stalls was calling out ‘This is an insult.’ -The men near were calling to him to clear out, but they didn’t help -to evict him. It was Robinson who came at last and led him out like -a lamb, but I believe he made some disturbance in the hall. By this -time others had started a demonstration in the balcony and there -was a good deal of noise, so that for about ten minutes the play -couldn’t be heard. I went round, but didn’t make the actors repeat -it, for I thought the audience ought to be made to suffer for not -being more helpful. About twenty-five men were ejected or walked -out, but all were given back their money at the box office, and I am -sure will think it a sacred duty to spend it in the same way again. -Two were arrested for assault. Nothing was thrown but a slice of -currant cake, which hit Sinclair, and two or three eggs, which missed -him--he says they were fresh ones. I lectured at the University this -afternoon; some of the students had come and invited me. A very fine -attendance, many of the audience standing. I spoke only half an hour, -but made quite a new little lecture and it held them. I gave eight -tickets to be given to athletes among the Pennsylvania students as A. -D. C.’s for me to-night. They would have been very useful putting out -offenders and taking messages to the stage. I rehearsed this morning, -and then lectured and went to a ‘College Club’ tea--and I am tired -and won’t write more.” - -“January 17th. The riot last night was not so serious as I had -expected. The agitators had been so gently dealt with the first -night and had had their money returned, one felt sure they would -try again, and when I got to the theatre, one of the officials told -me he had been watching the box office during the day, and had seen -‘murderers’ taking four or five seats together. The auditorium was -very full, and at the back, where I sat, there were a great many -suspicious-looking characters. One of them began to cough loudly -during _Kathleen ni Houlihan_ when Miss Allgood was singing the first -little song, and to mutter, so that people near told him he was not -the only person in the theatre. Others joined in coughing, but I sent -a message round to have the lights put up, and the moment they were -turned on, the coughs stopped. I pointed out this man, and was amused -to see him sit through the play looking sullen but silent except -for an occasional mutter or cough, which was stopped at once, for a -policeman in plain clothes had been put on each side of him. Near the -end, where all on the stage rush out after Christy when he is going -to ‘kill his father the second time,’ he could not resist laughing, -and then he walked out discomfited. - -“There was a man behind me who coughed loudly at intervals all -through and sounded as if making ready to spit, so that it took all -my courage not to move. In the third act, when Christy boasts of -having ‘cleft his father to the breeches belt,’ he called out ‘Shame, -shame!’ several times and walked out. However, whether he repented -or looked through the glass screen at back of the stalls and saw the -father come to life again, I don’t know, but he returned and stayed -to the end. - -“The first man who made a noise was the most difficult to deal with. -He crooked his legs round the legs of his chair, and it took four -men to take him out. One, with a large roll of paper in his hand, -stood up and called out that he represented the County Down. There -were fifteen evicted altogether, all from the stalls, and some others -walked out shouting protests. - -“The police were more energetic last night and did their work very -well and with joy, as Irish policemen would. The inspector too was -there and seemed very determined. Also, I had my eight young athletes -from the University at hand, ready and willing to give aid. The play -was not interrupted for more than a minute or two at a time. I -told the players to stop speaking whenever there was a row, and to -resume when it was over, so nothing was really lost. A good half of -the protesters last night stayed till the end of the play. I think -they were waiting for the bad bits to begin, so they saw it at all -events. The papers say snuff was thrown, but I think not. I think -it was premeditated coughing, but the throats didn’t hold out very -long. On the other hand, there were a lot of rough-looking Irishmen -near me, three together on my bench, who did not take any part in -the disturbance, and seemed to enjoy the play. I am sure, therefore, -that there will be two parties.... I am having my University boys -again to-night. Flynn had to leave in the middle of the evening -and Robinson took Mrs. Flynn to the opera, so we were a little -short-handed, but got on all right. John Quinn is coming from New -York and will stay the night, so I shall be quite easy.” - -“January 17th. At two o’clock I was just finishing lunch alone, Mrs. -Jayne lunching out and Mr. Jayne being in bed with a cold, when I -was rung up by Mr. Bradford, our manager at the Adelphi, to say that -he had warning from Lieblers that we might have to change the bill -to-night and take off _The Playboy_. I said that could not be done, -but he said it might be necessary. There is some legal point, and Mr. -Bradford thought that we might all be arrested if we went on. I said -I would rather be arrested than withdraw the play and could answer -for the players feeling the same. He said there was also danger that -Shubert, to whom the theatre belongs, might close it. I said that -would be bad but not so bad as withdrawing _The Playboy_, for it -would be Shubert’s doing not ours, though that might not be much help -in the public view. I was anxious, and I told Bradford not to consent -to anything without consulting me. Then I called up John Quinn at -New York, got him at his office, and asked him to see the Lieblers, -and said that I need not tell him I would sooner go to my death than -give in. He said he would see them at once, and that he would be here -this evening, as he had intended. At 4 o’clock I heard again from -Bradford. He said it had been decided to go on, and that a bail bond -had been prepared. He asked if there was anyone to represent me in -case of my arrest. I said I would wait to consult Quinn. It is such -a mercy he is coming. My only fear is lest they should get out an -injunction to stop the matinée to-morrow; even that would be claimed -as a victory. They had told me at the theatre this morning there -would probably be trouble to-night. The men arrested were let out, -had their money returned, and were escorted through the streets by an -admiring crowd. However, I should like to avoid arrest, because of -the publicity; one would feel like a suffragette.” - -“Thursday, 18th. When Quinn arrived, we went straight to the -theatre--it was then 7:15--and found the whole cast had already -been technically arrested! The tactics of the enemy had been to -arrest them in the theatre at 8 o’clock and so make a performance -impossible. But the theatre lawyer had managed to circumvent them, -and the Chief of Police, now our warm friend, had said he would not -only refuse to let his men arrest the actors, but he would have -anyone arrested who came on the stage to do so. In the end the -warrants of arrest were issued and the manager of the theatre signed -bail bonds for the appearance of the Company on Friday morning. The -warrants are founded on a bill passed last year in the municipality -before S. Bernhardt’s visit, forbidding ‘immoral or indecent plays.’ -Our accuser is a liquor dealer. I should have been completely -bewildered by the whole thing, but Quinn seemed to unravel it. We had -a consultation with the theatre lawyer, and Mr. Jayne’s partners, -Mr. Biddle and Mr. Yocum, to whom he had sent me. The question seems -to be whether it is best to have the hearing put off and brought -before a judge, or whether to have it settled straight off to-morrow. -The danger is that our case may come up for trial after some weeks, -bringing us back here, making it possible for the enemy to boast that -we were under bail. Quinn is this morning seeing all the lawyers -again, and some decision as to our course will be come to. - -“The Commissioner of Public Safety attended the play last night, and -said the attack on it must be a joke.... I have been interrupted in -this by the correspondent of the _Telegraph_ coming to ask if it is -true, as stated by the Irish Societies, that I am an envoy of the -English Government. I referred him to Mr. Bryce, who, I suppose, -would be my paymaster!” - -“Saturday, 20th. I have been too anxious and hard worked to write -since Thursday. That was the last performance of _The Playboy_, and -there was an immense audience. I could not get a seat. Even the -little boxes at the top--it is a very high theatre with eight boxes -at each side--were all taken. I had made appointments with reporters -and others, and had to get a high stool from the office put in the -passage and sit there or at the back of the stage. It was the record -matinée of the Adelphi. There was tremendous enthusiasm and not a -sign of any disturbance. Of course, we had a good many policemen in -the house, to the great regret of the management, who had to turn so -much good money away. So that was quite a cheerful day. Someone in -the audience was heard declaring that the players are not Irish, but -all Jews. I had an anonymous letter from some one, who accuses me of -the usual crimes and winds up: ‘The writer has never saw the play, -but has read all about you and it’! That is the way with most of the -letter writers, I think. - -“Yesterday, Friday morning, we attended the Magistrate’s Court at -nine o’clock. We had to wait nearly an hour in a tiny, stuffy room. -When the hearing began, I was given a chair behind the Magistrate, -but the others had either to sit at the back of the inner room, -where they could not see or hear, or stand as they did, for over an -hour. The liquor-seller, our prosecutor, was the first witness. He -had stayed only till Shawneen’s ‘coat of a Christian man’ was left -in Michael James’s hands. He made a disturbance then and was turned -out, but was able to find as much indecency even in that conversation -as would demoralise a monastery. His brother, a priest, had stayed -all through, and found we had committed every sin mentioned in the -Act. Another witness swore that sentences were used in the play and -that he had heard them, though they are not either in book nor play. -Several witnesses were examined or asked to speak, all giving the -same story, ‘or if it was not the same story, anyway it was no less -than the first story.’ - -“Our actors were furious. Kerrigan tried hard to keep from breaking -out and risking all when the priest was attacking his (that is Shawn -Keogh’s) character and intentions. At last he called out, ‘My God!’ -and the Magistrate said, ‘If that man interrupts the Court again, -turn him out,’ forgetting that he was speaking of a prisoner at the -bar! Indeed, as the prosecutors grew excited, the trial of the Irish -Players seemed to be forgotten, and it became the trial of Christy -Mahon for the attempted murder of his father. Mr. Gray demanded that -the actors should be ‘held for Court,’ but Quinn, knowing what would -happen, had arranged for this, and our lawyers ‘sued out a writ -of _habeas corpus_’ (I hope this is the right expression) and had -arranged with Judge Carr to try the case in the afternoon. Mr. Gray -wanted then to have it tried at once. He said he had to leave town -in the afternoon, but in the end the Judge said he could not arrange -for the trial before three o’clock. This gave me time to telephone -to John Quinn, who had thought the trial was not to be till next -morning, and was attending cases of his own in New York. He answered -that he would come if he possibly could. Then there was a message -that he had missed the train by one minute, but had caught another, -ten minutes later. At three o’clock we went to the Court, a large -one this time. The Judge didn’t know anything about the play, and -had to be told the whole story as it went on, just like old Wall in -Dublin at our first riot, so before the case had gone far audience -and officials were in a broad grin. The liquor-dealer got a different -hearing this time, was asked some pertinent questions instead of -being simply encouraged, as he was by the Magistrate. - -“The dramatic event was the arrival of Quinn while a witness -was being examined. We had got leave from the Judge for him to -cross-examine, and the witness had to confess that the people of -Ireland do use the name of God at other times than in blessing or -thanking those who have been kind to them, and in gratitude or -prayer, as he had at first asserted upon oath. Also when he based his -attack on indecency by quoting the ‘poacher’s love,’ spoken of by -Christy, he was made to admit that, a few sentences earlier, marriage -had been spoken of, ‘in a fortnight’s time when the banns will be -called.’ Whether this made it more or less moral, he was not asked to -say. He called the play ‘libidinous.’ - -“J. Q. asked one witness if anything immoral had happened on the -stage, and he answered ‘Not while the curtain was up!’ I think it -was the same witness who said, ‘A theatre is no place for a sense -of humour.’ The players beamed and the audience enjoyed themselves, -and then when the Director of Public Safety was called and said he -and his wife had enjoyed the play very much and had seen nothing to -shock anybody, the enemy had received, as Quinn said, ‘a knock-out -blow.’ He made a very fine speech then. There is just a little bit -of it in the _North American_, but Mr. Gray made objections to its -being reported, but anyhow, it turned the tables completely on the -enemy. It was a little disappointment that the Judge did not give his -verdict there and then, that we might have cabled home. - -“A lot of people have been expressing sympathy. A young man from the -University, who had been bringing a bodyguard for me on the riot -nights, has just been to say good-bye, and told me the students are -going to hold an indignation meeting. The Drama League, six hundred -strong, has so far done or said nothing, though it is supposed to -have sent out a bulletin endorsing the favourable opinion of Boston -upon our plays, a week after we came here, not having had time to -form an opinion of its own. Can you imagine their allowing such a -thing to happen here as the arrest of a company of artists engaged -in producing a masterpiece, and at such hands! The Administration has -been re-formed of late and is certainly on the mend, but there is -plenty more to be done, although the city has an innocent look, as -if it had gone astray in the fields, and its streets are named after -trees. The Company are in a state of fury, but they adore John Quinn, -and his name will pass into folk-lore like those stories of O’Connell -suddenly appearing at trials. He spoke splendidly, with fire and -full knowledge. You will see what he said about the witnesses in the -_North American_ and even Robinson says he ‘came like an angel.’ - -“Sunday, 21st. Yesterday was a little depressing, for the Judge had -not yet given out his decision; so we are still under bail and the -imputations of indecency, etc. The Philadelphians say it is because -the Act is such a new one, it requires a great deal of consideration. - -“A reporter came yesterday to ask whether I considered _The Playboy_ -immoral. I said my taking it about was answer enough, but that if -he wished to give interesting news, he would go to the twenty-six -witnesses produced against us (we were not allowed to produce one -on our side) and try to get at their opinions, and on what they were -founded. He answered that he had already been to ten of them that -morning, that they all answered in the same words, not two words -of difference--that their opinion was founded on the boy and the -girl being left alone in the house for the night. They can hardly -have heard Quinn making the clerical witness withdraw his statement -that immorality was implied by their being left together. I advised -him also to look at the signed articles on the play in so many -English and American magazines, and to remember that even here the -plays have been taught in the dramatic classes of the University -of Pennsylvania, that the President of Bryn Mawr had invited the -players to the College for the day, and had sent a large party of -students to the last matinée of _The Playboy_, leave being asked to -introduce them to me. I told him he might print all this opposite the -witnesses’ opinions. - -“Yesterday’s matinée, _Rising of the Moon_, _Well of the Saints_, and -_Workhouse Ward_, was again so crowded that I could not get a place -and went and sat in the side-wings, where a cinematograph man came -to ask if I would allow _The Playboy_ to be used for a moving-picture -exhibition, as it would be ‘such a good advertisement for us!’ Last -night also there was a very good audience. We took just one dollar -short of eight thousand dollars in the week. Such a pity the dollars -were returned to the disturbers or we should have gone above it.” - -“I was advised to go to a certain newspaper office to get evidence -that was considered necessary as to the standing of the magistrate -who had issued the writ and before whom we had been brought (we had -been advised to take an action for malicious arrest). The editor -was generous enough to let me have from the files, classified in -the newspaper office as ‘Obituary Notices,’ ready for use at the -proper time an envelope containing reports of some curious incidents -in the record of the magistrate in question. The editor lamented -his troubles of the evening before when he had gone for supper to -the Bellevue where I had met him. He had taken to the restaurant a -young niece, who wanted something delicate for supper, whereas the -editor himself wanted two soft-boiled eggs with rice and cream. These -simple dishes, however, could not be had at the fashionable Bellevue -and he was able but to pick at a little of the delicate food. -After he had taken the niece home, he made off to his own little -homely restaurant, where he secured his rice and eggs. This, and an -interview I had seen with Yeats, who supposes that our arrest was due -to the fact that Philadelphia is a Puritan town, brought back the -rural atmosphere.” - - * * * * * - -Our friends at home were naturally amazed, especially in London -where the posters of the newspapers had in large letters, “ARREST -OF THE IRISH PLAYERS.” Mr. Yeats wrote from Dublin, January 21st: -“I need not tell you how startled I was when a reporter came to -me on Thursday evening and asked me whether I had anything to say -regarding the arrest of the Abbey Players. While I was talking to him -and telling him I didn’t really know anything about it (he was as -ignorant of your crime as I was), a second reporter came in, equally -urgent and ignorant. Then a wire came from the London correspondent -of the _New York Sun_, asking for an opinion on the arrest of Abbey -Players. We were speculating as to what it could mean, and I was -surmising it was _Blanco_, when a telegram came from the _Manchester -Guardian_, saying it was _The Playboy_ and asking me to see their -reporter. Then a young man arrived with a telegram, and I thought he -was the reporter and became very eloquent. He was sympathetic and -interested, and when I had finished, explained that he was only the -post-office messenger. Then another reporter turned up and after that -the _Manchester Guardian_ man. You will have had the papers before -this. I think for the moment it has made us rather popular here in -Dublin, for no matter how much evil people wish for the Directors, -they feel amiable towards the players. If only Miss Allgood could get -a fortnight, I think the pit would love even _The Playboy_. However, -I imagine that after a few days of the correspondence columns, we -shall discover our enemies again. - -“We have done very well this week with the school. I am rather -anxious that the school, or No. 2 Company, as it will be, should have -in its repertory some of our most popular pieces.... The great thing -achieved is that if Philadelphia had permanently imprisoned the whole -Company, our new Company would in twelve months have taken their -place here in Dublin. We have now a fine general effect, though we -have no big personalities.” - - * * * * * - -“Philadelphia, Monday. I forget what I have written, and I don’t know -if I have explained that we were allowed no witnesses, either at the -Magistrate’s or the Judge’s Court, and with our hastily instructed -lawyers we should not have been able to make even any defence through -them but for the miraculous appearance of John Quinn. And this is the -fifth day we have been under bail on charge of indecency, and its -like.” - -“January 22d, Hotel Algonquin, New York. Contrary to my directions -Liebler’s man had put on _The Playboy_ for Pittsburg. It was asked -for by some ladies who are taking the whole house for a charity -performance. Now they have written to ask for another bill instead, -_Hyacinth_, _Riders_, _Workhouse_; and the papers say that _The -Playboy_ has been taken off on religious grounds.” - -“Richmond, Indiana, January 24th. The journey to Pittsburg is a quite -lovely journey, like Switzerland but less monotonous; the sunshine -and snow exhilarating. The plays had begun when I arrived. There was -a very good audience and _Hyacinth_ and _Workhouse Ward_ made them -laugh a great deal. Carnegie Hall is all gilding and marbles, and a -gilded organ towers above the butcher’s shop in _Hyacinth_. I had -to make a little speech and was able to tell of the telegram from -Philadelphia, saying the Judge had dismissed the case. We came on -here through the night. - -“An interviewer who came this morning has sent me an interesting book -on Indiana book plates, and an old lady brought me an Irish Bible, -and the jeweller who packed my watch would take nothing, and Miss -Allgood has sent me a box of roses. So the stars must be in a good -mood. I think we ought to start with _The Playboy_ in Chicago and get -that over. It would show we are not damped by Philadelphia.” - -We went on that night to Indianapolis. _The Playboy_ had been -specially asked for in Indianapolis. Protests against its production -were made to the manager of the theatre by the Ancient Order of -Hibernians and others, but the manager said he was powerless. They -also called upon Superintendent of Police Hyland, who said: “I will -have plenty of men at the theatre to quell a disturbance. I don’t -believe, however, that there will be any trouble. If there are -persons who do not like the show, they can stay away. But there is -one thing certain; if they do not stay away and come to the show to -make trouble, they will find plenty of it on hand.” - -The Mayor was also appealed to, but he did not see his way to stop -the play. The Irish Societies then decided to stay away, and though -the theatre was packed, the play went through in perfect peace. - -“Chicago, Hotel La Salle, January 26th. Tyler wired me to come on -here, so I left the Company at Indianapolis this morning and came -on. We don’t begin playing here till the 5th. No theatre is ready. -Gaston Mayer was very urgent we should stay another week on account -of getting here so late. I told the Company of this and they decided -to stay. We shall therefore finish here March 2d and sail on the 6th. -We had no trouble at Indianapolis last night. The police authorities -were very firm and the threats collapsed. I wish Philadelphia had -been as firm. They are all afraid of the politicians.... - -“I was sorry to leave the Company. I feel like Wilhelm Meister going -through ever-fresh adventures with the little troop. As to the rows, -I don’t think there is anything you (Yeats) could have done, except -that you would have done things yourself while others have done them -for me. The Company insist on giving John Quinn a silver cup, in -gratitude for his help. I haven’t seen Flynn for a fortnight. He is -astray among the one-night towns and talked to us at Indianapolis -through the telephone, with a bad cold.” - -“25th or 26th. I see by the papers that at the La Salle Hotel, -where I am staying, a meeting of Irishmen has been held at which an -‘Anti-Irish Players’ League’ was formed, beginning with a membership -of three hundred. Such a pity I couldn’t have slipped in to the -meeting! A petition had also been written and was being sent out for -signature, demanding the suppression of _The Playboy_. This petition -was said to have been signed by eight thousand persons, and twenty -thousand signatures were expected. Meanwhile the Anti-Cruelty Society -of Chicago, at the head of which are various benevolent ladies, had -asked leave to buy up the whole house for the first performance of -_The Playboy of the Western World_. They meant to resell these seats -at an increased price for their charity and believed it was likely -to draw the largest audience. So they have taken the theatre for -Tuesday, February 6, and the public performance of _The Playboy_ will -take place the next day.” - -“January 29th. My typewriter is mended at last, and I am getting -settled. Last night one of the boy interviewers--they are all boys -here--came in from one of the papers. He showed me two statements -written by Liebler’s manager here, one colourless, the other offering -a reward of five thousand dollars to anyone who could prove the -management had bribed rioters for the first night, as has been stated -in the papers. I advised that this be put in, as people really seem -to believe it is true. This young man had been to see many of the -objectors. They said Synge was a ‘degenerate,’ who had lived abroad -to collect a bad atmosphere, which he put round Irish characters -afterwards. A nice young interviewer; he wants to write a play around -his mother’s life, to show what a mother’s devotion can be. Another -of them is twenty-five and is going to be married next summer. He -showed me his fiancée’s portrait, and another went and hunted for a -Don Quixote I wanted, to distract my mind from present-day things. - -“This morning one came who is in with the Irish Clubs and had all the -objections, but now seems quite friendly. He says one of the chief -officers of the ‘Anti-Irish Players’ League’ is a man called H., a -son of old Mrs. H.! He has hinted that my sympathies are with the -landlord side, and that he could tell tales of hard treatment. The -interviewer wanted to know if a rehearsal could be held for the Mayor -so that he might judge the play, but I said the first night under the -patronage of the Anti-Cruelty Society would give him his opportunity. -A lady interviewer then came, but I made her take her pencil and -write down what I did say, which is more than the boys do. I tell -them I put in my pig and it comes out sausage.” - -“Tuesday, January 30th. I am so tired! Last night I dined with -the Hamills, friends of John Quinn. It was a very pleasant dinner -and we all went afterwards to see _The Woman_, a good play in its -realistic way. I came home quite cheery but found in the passage -one of my young interviewers, who told me the Town Council had -unanimously voted against _The Playboy_ being put on. He had been -sent to ask me for a statement, but advised me not to make one, and -there was nothing to say. I was going to bed near midnight when -another interviewer arrived, and said the Mayor had acted on the -recommendation of the Council and suppressed the play. He showed me -an article which was to appear in the morning issue of his paper -telling this. I was very sad for it seemed as if there was an end of -the fight. The hot water-apparatus in my room, which is always out -of order, began grunting and groaning between one and two when I was -asleep and wakened me; so I got no more sleep till late morning, and -then was awaked by interviewers at the telephone. They even knocked -at my door while I was dressing. - -“When I went down, however, I found that the Mayor had not ordered -the play off, and the article in the paper had had to be re-printed. -Also Flynn arrived and was a help with the army who came in, -entertaining them while I typed out a statement about the adventures -of _The Playboy_ so far, and this statement I gave them. Then I -’phoned to Mr. Hamill, who is a lawyer and who had said last night -he would help me in any legal difficulty. He came at once and was -splendid. He went into the law of the case, and believes that if the -Mayor does forbid it, we can take him into the Federal Court, and go -on all right. He says another lawyer, who was at dinner last night, -has also volunteered to serve. He went to try and see the Mayor but -missed him. He is, however, to see him at noon to-morrow. He came -back at five for another talk, and says he doesn’t think the Mayor -has power to stop it. He has seen the Corporation lawyer. - -“I was engaged to lunch with a nice Mrs. ---- at one, but got there -after the hour and had to be back here before two, and it was an -absurd thing: I had had my room changed. I had suffered so much from -the unmanageable hot water that I threatened the manager that I -would tell the interviewers about it, and he at once gave me another -suite. My things were being brought up, and I couldn’t find hat or -coat, therefore had to go just as I was. However the lunch was very -pleasant and good, what I had of it.... - -“I came back to find a Mr. Field, editor of one of the papers, who -had brought ‘an enemy,’ who announced he had come but for five -minutes to hear my views, and spent at least ten in giving his own. -Then Liebler’s local manager came in. He also thinks we shall be able -to circumvent the Mayor. He believes, however, the Mayor will give -the order for political reasons, though he has some culture and would -not like to be classed with the Aldermen. A couple of ladies called. -One comfort of being attacked is that one finds friends to help.... - -“I have nice rooms now on the ninth floor--there are twenty-two -floors altogether--the place riddled with telephones, radiators, etc. -I was glad to hear the voice of a fat housemaid from Mayo a while ago. - -“It is a strange fate that sends me into battle after my peaceful -life for so many years, and especially over _Playboy_, that I have -never really loved, but one has to carry through one’s job. One of -the accusations has been that there are no Irish persons connected -with the Company, and my answer is given accurately in one of the -papers. ‘The Players are all Irish by birth. They had never left -Ireland until they came to England on the tours made by us. With two -exceptions all are Roman Catholics. - -“‘I believe the play is quite honestly considered by some of my -countrymen out here to be injurious to Ireland and her claim for -self-government, but I know that such an assumption is wrong and that -the dignity of Ireland has been very much increased by the work of -the Theatre, of which the genius of Mr. Synge is a component part.’” - -“February 1st. Yesterday morning I took a holiday, went to see a -little amateur play in a private house. It was on suffrage, called -_Everywoman_, very short and rather amusing. It was given at 11 -o’clock and afterwards there was an ‘informal lunch,’ rather a good -idea,--little tables, not set out, here and there. There were first -cups of delicious soup, then vegetable sandwiches with little cases -of hot mince, and peas, just a plate and fork, then ices and black -coffee, and bonbons. It was much pleasanter than sitting down to -a table; one could move about. The luncheon was all over by 1:30, -and then a Mrs. R---- took me for a drive in her motor. We drove -about thirty miles about the park and town and along the lake side, -but never really away from the town, which is immense. The lake is -lovely, a soft turquoise blue, not the blue of the sea, and there was -floating ice near the shore. It was luckily a bright day, the first -we have had. To-day there is snow again and darkness. - -“When I came home, I set to work to correct a copy of _The Playboy_ -according to the prompt copy I had just had sent on by the Company, -in case the Mayor wanted it. A journalist came in who wanted to know -about the cuts, and I got him to help me. Then Mr. Hamill came; -he doesn’t think there will be trouble. Then I took up a lot of -telephone addresses that had been left for me to call up, and found -one was from ‘W. Dillon.’ It was a Mr. Dillon representing the enemy, -who had been brought to see me on Tuesday. My interview with him had -appeared in a very mangled form next day and I found only then that -he was a brother of John Dillon, M.P., and the Corporation lawyer. I -called him up, and he answered from the City Hall, and said he was -writing a report on the legal aspect of the case for the Mayor, and -wanted to know if I was sure certain words had been left out of the -acting version, as I told him had always been done. I said yes, and -I could now bring him the prompt copy. He assented and I went round -to the City Hall. Mr. Dillon was sitting in his office, dictating to -a shorthand writer. He said, ‘You may listen to what I am dictating, -but you must treat it as confidential.’ I said, ‘I will go away if -you wish,’ but he said, ‘No, I will trust to your honour as a lady.’ -He was just finishing his statement, as printed in the papers this -morning, denouncing the play but saying that, though in his opinion -it might lead to a riot, he did not think the Mayor had power to stop -it. I showed him the prompt copy. He asked if we could not strike out -still more. I said the passages we had changed or left out had been -changed in Mr. Synge’s lifetime and with his consent, and we did not -feel justified in meddling any more. I think he expected me to make -some concession, for he said then, ‘I think you would do much better -to take the play off altogether.’ I said we were bound by contract -to Liebler to put on whatever plays they asked for. He said, ‘Then -it is not in your power to remove it?’ I answered, ‘No,’ and that -ended the matter. I felt sorry for the moment, for it would have -been gracious to make some small concession, but afterwards I thought -of Parnell.... We may bring that play some other time, and there are -many who think his betrayal a greater slur upon Ireland than would be -even the real killing of a father. - -“The _Examiner_ announces that the Mayor won’t stop the play. He has -said. ‘I do not see how the performance can be stopped. I have read -part of it and its chief characteristic seems to be stupidity rather -than immorality. I should think it would take more than a regiment of -soldiers to compel an audience to fill the Grand Opera House to see -such a poor production. I certainly shall not see it.’ - -“I hope I may get some breathing time. The idea of a day spent -playing with little Richard seems an impossible heaven! And I feel a -little lonely at times. It is a mercy this will be the last fight. -I don’t think it is over yet.... I like to hear of the success of -the school. It will be a great enjoyment sitting down to listen to a -verse play again if I survive to do it!” - -“Feb. 3rd. I dined with the McC----s, and went on to the Opera, -_Tristan und Isolde_, which I had never seen. It was a great -delight, a change from worries. I like the people here. They are more -merry than those of the other cities somehow, at least those I have -fallen amongst. They are vital. They don’t want to die till they see -what Chicago is going to do. - -“There is snow on the ground and yesterday when I went for a walk, -the cold frightened me at first,--such pain in the face, but I went -on and got used to it. The thermometer has been six below zero.” - -“Feb. 8th. I seem to have been busy ever since. The first night of -_The Playboy_ was anxious. I was not really anxious the Anti-Cruelty -night, and it went off quite peaceably, but I was last night, the -open one, for, as I quoted from _Image_, ‘There are always contrary -people in a crowd.’ But the play was acted in entire peace. I nearly -fell asleep! It seems complete victory. The Corporation had to -rescind their resolution against it, and I suppose the objectors -found public opinion was too strong to permit any protest to be made. -It is a great mercy. I did not know how great the strain was till it -was over. - -“On Monday we opened to a fairly large house with comedies and -they were well received. The Hull House Players came and gave me a -lovely bunch of roses. They have been acting some of my plays. When -I got back to the hotel, I found a threatening letter written in -vile language, and with picture of coffin and pistol, saying I would -‘never see the hills of Connemara again,’ and was about to meet with -my death. It seems a miracle to have got through such a Wood of -Dangers with flags flying.” - -“Feb. 12th. Everything goes on so peaceably we are astonished. _The -Playboy_ finished its five days’ run on Saturday with never a boo or -a hiss. I believe the enemy are making some excuse for themselves, -saying they won’t riot because it was said they were paid to do so, -but it is an extraordinary defeat for them. Quinn was much excited -over it when he was here, and he did not know the extent of our -victory. He thinks it the pricking of the bubble of all the societies -that have been terrorising people. Fibs go on, of course, and a Mrs. -F---- told me that her Irish maid said she had been forbidden to go -to _The Playboy_ because it runs down the courage of the Irish.’ She -was sad, and said ‘The Irish always had courage.’ - -“It makes one think _The Playboy_ more harmless even than one had -thought, their having to make up these inventions. One is glad to put -it on for them to see. I feel like Pegeen showing off Christy to the -Widow Quinn, ‘See now is he roaring, romping?’ The author of ‘An Open -Letter to Lady Gregory’ came to me at some Club to ask if I had seen -it. I said yes, and that the paper had telephoned to know if I would -answer it, but I had said no, and that I wished all my critics would -write me open letters instead of personal ones, as I could leave them -unanswered without discourtesy. - -“We have a good following among the intellectuals, and a good many -Irish begin to come in. We know that by the reception of _Rising of -the Moon_. - -“Coming back from my lecture at Detroit, I was to have arrived at -Chicago at eight o’clock. I awoke to find we were in a blizzard. The -train got stuck in a suburb of Chicago, and after hours of waiting we -had to wade across the track, ankle deep in snow, I in my thin shoes! -After fighting the blizzard, we had to sit in a shed for another hour -or two. Then they said we must wade back to the train. They thought -it could be run to the station. I thought I might as well wait for my -end where I was, as I could not carry my baggage and there was no one -to help me, so stayed on my bench. After a bit some omnibuses came -to our relief, and I being near the door was put in first, and got -to the hotel at three o’clock. I had not had breakfast, expecting we -should be in, and when I asked for it later, the car had been taken -off, so all the food I had was a dry roll I had taken from the hotel -on Sunday. However, I was none the worse, and glad to have seen a -blizzard. It was the worst they had had for many years, deaths were -caused by it, and much damage was done. - -“I have been walking to the theatre every night as usual in spite of -that threatening letter. I don’t feel anxious, for I don’t think from -the drawing that the sender has much practical knowledge of firearms. - -“I can hardly believe we shall sail next week! It will be a great -rest surely.... Well, we have had a great victory!” - - - - -THE BINDING - - -I had but just written these pages and put together these letters -when in last Christmas week we set out again for America. We spent -there the first four months of this year, but this time there were -no riots and we were of the happy people who have no history, unless -it may be of the continued kindness of America, and of the growing -kindness and better understanding on the part of our own countrymen. - -Last year, it was often said to me in New York and elsewhere, “You -must not think that we Americans helped in these attacks.” And I -would answer, “No; our countrymen took care to make that clear by -throwing our national potato. If you had attacked us you would -have thrown pumpkins, and we should have fared worse than Æsop’s -philosopher under the oak.” - -I think the facts I have given show that the opposition was in every -case planned and ordered before the plays had been seen--before -we landed, and by a very small group working through a political -organisation. As to the reason and meaning of that attack, it is for -those who made it to set that out. I cannot but remember Alexander -Hamilton’s words when the building of America began: “After this war -is over, will come the real war, the great battle of ideas”; and that -the long political war in Ireland may be, and seems to be, nearing -its end. I think too of Laeg looking out from the wounded Cuchulain’s -tent and making his report at Ilgaireth: “I see a little herd of -cattle breaking out from the west of Ailell’s camp, and there are -lads following after them and trying to bring them back, and I see -more lads coming out from the army of Ulster to attack them”; and how -Cuchulain said: “That little herd on the plain is the beginning of -a great battle.” The battle of ideas has been fought elsewhere and -against other dramatists. Was not Ibsen banished from his country, -and Molière refused Christian burial? - -It is after all the old story of the two sides of the shield. Some -who are lovers of Ireland believe we have lessened the dignity of -Ireland by showing upon the stage countrymen who drink and swear -and admire deeds of violence, or who are misers and covetous or -hungering after land. We who are lovers of Ireland believe that our -Theatre with its whole mass of plays has very greatly increased that -dignity, and we are content to leave that judgment to the great -arbitrator, Time. And amongst the Irish in America it was easy to -rouse feeling against us. Is not the new baby always the disturber in -the household? Our school of drama is the newest birth in Ireland, -that Ireland which had become almost consecrated by distance and by -romance. An old Irishwoman who loves her country very much said while -I was in America: “I don’t want to go back and see Ireland again. -It is a finished picture in my mind.” But Ireland cannot always be -kept as a sampler upon the wall. It has refused to be cut off from -the creative work of the intellect, and the other countries creating -literature have claimed her as of their kin. - -I wish my countrymen, before coming into the fight, had known it to -be so unequal. They had banished from the stage one or two plays -that had given them offence and no one had greatly cared. But works -of imagination such as those of Synge could not be suppressed even -if burned in the market place. They had not realised the tremendous -support we had, that we were not fighting alone, but with the -intellect of America as well as of Europe at our back. - -There was another thing they had not reckoned with. It had been put -down in words by Professor William James: “Democracy is still upon -its trial. The civic genius of our people is its only bulwark and -neither laws nor monuments, neither battleships nor public libraries, -nor churches nor universities can save us from degeneration if the -inner mystery be lost. That mystery, at once the secret and glory of -our English-speaking race, consists in nothing but two common habits, -two inveterate habits, carried into public life. One of these is the -habit of trained and disciplined good temper towards the opposite -party when it fairly wins its innings. The other is that of fierce -and merciless resentment towards every man or set of men who break -the public peace.” - -The civic genius of America decided that not we but our opponents had -broken the public peace. - - * * * * * - -_Now, little Richard, that is the whole story of my journey; and I -wonder if by the time you can read it you will have forgotten my -coming home with a big basket of grapes and bananas and grapefruit -and oranges for you, and a little flag with the Stars and Stripes._ - -_I was very glad to be at home with you again while the daffodils -were blooming out, and to have no more fighting, perhaps for ever. -And if it is hard to fight for a thing you love, it is harder to -fight for one you have no great love for. And you will read some day -in one of those books in the library that are too high now for you -to reach, the story of a man who was said to be mad but has outlived -many who were not, and who went about fighting for the sake of some -one who was maybe “the fright of seven townlands with her biting -tongue” though he still called out after every battle, “Dulcinea is -the most beautiful woman of the world!” So think a long time before -you choose your road, little Richard, but when you have chosen it, -follow it on to the end._ - - COOLE, July 24, 1913. - - - - -Appendices - - - - -APPENDIX I - -PLAYS PRODUCED BY THE ABBEY THEATRE CO. AND ITS PREDECESSORS, WITH -DATES OF FIRST PERFORMANCES - - -IRISH LITERARY THEATRE AT ANTIENT CONCERT ROOMS - - May 8th, 1899. “The Countess Cathleen.” W. B. Yeats - “ 9th, “ “The Heather Field.” Edward Martyn - - -IRISH LITERARY THEATRE AT THE GAIETY THEATRE - - Feb. 19th, 1900. “The Bending of the Bough.” George Moore - “ 19th, “ “The Last Feast of the Fianna.” Alice Milligan - “ 20th, “ “Maeve.” Edward Martyn - Oct. 21st, 1901. “Diarmuid and Grania.” W. B. Yeats and - George Moore - “ 21st, “ “The Twisting of the Rope.” Douglas Hyde - (The first Gaelic Play produced in any Theatre.) - - -MR. W. G. FAY’S IRISH NATIONAL DRAMATIC COMPANY AT ST. TERESA’S HALL, -CLARENDON STREET. - - Apr. 2nd, 1902. “Deirdre.” “A.E.” - “ 2nd, “ “Kathleen Ni Houlihan.” W. B. Yeats. - - -IRISH NATIONAL DRAMATIC COMPANY AT ANTIENT CONCERT ROOMS - - Oct. 29th, 1902. “The Sleep of the King.” Seumas O’Cuisin - Oct. 29th, 1902. “The Laying of the Foundations.” Fred Ryan - “ 30th, “ “A Pot of Broth.” W. B. Yeats - “ 31st, “ “The Racing Lug.” Seumas O’Cuisin - - -IRISH NATIONAL THEATRE SOCIETY, MOLESWORTH HALL - - (The first prospectus of this Society, dated March, 1903, and - signed by Mr. Fred Ryan began as follows: “The Irish National - Theatre Society was formed to continue on a more permanent basis - the work of the Irish Literary Theatre.”) - - Mar. 14th, 1903. “The Hour Glass.” W. B. Yeats - “ 14th, “ “Twenty-Five.” Lady Gregory - Oct. 8th, “ “The King’s Threshold.” W. B. Yeats - “ 8th, “ “In the Shadow of the Glen.” J. M. Synge - Dec. 3rd, “ “Broken Soil.” Padraic Colum - Jan. 14th, 1904. “The Shadowy Waters.” W. B. Yeats - “ 14th, “ “The Townland of Tamney.” Seumas McManus - Feb. 25th, “ “Riders to the Sea.” J. M. Synge - - -IRISH NATIONAL THEATRE SOCIETY AT THE ABBEY THEATRE. - - Dec. 27th, 1904. “On Baile’s Strand.” W. B. Yeats - “ 27th, “ “Spreading the News.” Lady Gregory - Feb. 4th, 1905. “The Well of the Saints.” J. M. Synge - Mar. 25th, “ “Kincora.” Lady Gregory - Apr. 25th, “ “The Building Fund.” William Boyle - June 9th, “ “The Land.” Padraic Colum - - -NATIONAL THEATRE SOCIETY, LTD. (ABBEY COMPANY) - - Dec. 9th, 1905. “The White Cockade.” Lady Gregory - Jan. 20th, 1906. “The Eloquent Dempsy.” William Boyle - Feb. 19th, “ “Hyacinth Halvey.” Lady Gregory - Oct. 20th, “ “The Gaol Gate.” Lady Gregory - “ 20th, “ “The Mineral Workers.” William Boyle - Nov. 24th, “ “Deirdre.” W. B. Yeats - Dec. 8th, “ “The Canavans.” Lady Gregory - Dec. 8th, 1906. New Version of “The Shadowy W. B. Yeats - Waters.” - Jan. 26th, 1907. “The Playboy of the J. M. Synge - Western World.” - Feb. 23rd, “ “The Jackdaw.” Lady Gregory - Mar. 9th, “ “The Rising of the Moon.” Lady Gregory - Apr. 1st, “ “The Eyes of the Blind.” Miss W. M. Letts - Apr. 3rd, 1907. “The Poorhouse.” Douglas Hyde and - Lady Gregory - “ 27th, “ “Fand.” Wilfrid Scawen Blunt - Oct. 3rd, “ “The Country Dressmaker.” George Fitzmaurice - “ 31st, “ “Dervorgilla.” Lady Gregory - Nov. 21st, “ “The Unicorn from the Stars.” W. B. Yeats and - Lady Gregory - Feb. 13th, 1908. “The Man who missed the Tide.” W. F. Casey - “ 13th, “ “The Piper.” Norreys Connell - Mar. 10th, “ “The Piedish.” George Fitzmaurice - Mar. 19th, “ “The Golden Helmet.” W. B. Yeats - Apr. 20th, “ “The Workhouse Ward.” Lady Gregory - Oct. 1st, “ “The Suburban Groove.” W. F. Casey - “ 8th, “ “The Clancy Name.” Lennox Robinson - “ 15th, “ “When the Dawn is come.” Thomas MacDonogh - “ 21st, “ New Version, “The Man who W. F. Casey - missed the Tide.” - Feb. 11th, 1909. Revised Version of “Kincora.” Lady Gregory - Mar. 11th, “ “Stephen Grey.” D. L. Kelleher - Apr. 1st, “ “The Cross Roads.” Lennox Robinson - “ 1st, “ “Time.” Norreys Connell - “ 29th, “ “The Glittering Gate.” Lord Dunsany - May 27th, “ “An Imaginary Conversation.” Norreys Connell - Aug. 25th, “ “The Shewing-up of Blanco Bernard Shaw - Posnet.” - Sept. 16th, “ “The White Feather.” R. J. Ray - Oct. 14th, “ “The Challenge.” Miss W. M. Letts - Nov. 11th, “ “The Image.” Lady Gregory - Jan. 13th, 1910. “Deirdre of the Sorrows.” J. M. Synge - Feb. 10th, “ “The Green Helmet.” W. B. Yeats - Mar. 2nd, “ “The Travelling Man.” Lady Gregory - May 12th, “ “Thomas Muskerry.” Padraic Colum - “ 26th, “ “Harvest.“ Lennox Robinson - Sept. 28th, 1910 “The Casting-out of R. J. Ray - Martin Whelan.” - Oct. 27th, “ “Birthright.” T. C. Murray - Nov. 10th, “ “The Full Moon.” Lady Gregory - “ 24th, “ “The Shuiler’s Child.”[2] Seumas O’Kelly - Dec. 1st, “ “Coats.” Lady Gregory - Jan. 12th, 1911. “The Deliverer.” Lady Gregory - “ 26th, “ “King Argimenes and the Lord Dunsany - Unknown Warrior.” - Feb. 16th, “ “The Land of Heart’s Desire.”[3] W. B. Yeats - Mar. 30th, “ “Mixed Marriage.” St. John G. Ervine - Nov. 23rd, “ “The Interlude of Youth.” Anon., first - printed 1554 - “ 23rd, “ “The Second Shepherds’ Play.” Anon., _circa_ 1400 - “ 30th, “ “The Marriage.” Douglas Hyde - Dec. 7th, “ “Red Turf.” Rutherford Mayne - “ 14th, “ Revival of “The Countess W. B. Yeats - Cathleen.” - Jan. 4th, 1912. “The Annunciation.” _circa_ 1400 - “ 4th, “ “The Flight into Egypt.” _circa_ 1400 - “ 11th, “ “MacDarragh’s Wife.” Lady Gregory - Feb. 1st, “ Revival of “The Country George Fitzmaurice - Dressmaker.” - “ 15th, “ “The Tinker and the Fairy.” Douglas Hyde - (Played in Gaelic) - “ 29th, “ “The Worlde and the Chylde.” 15th century - Mar. 28th, “ “Family Failing.” William Boyle - Apr. 11th, “ “Patriots.” Lennox Robinson - “ 15th, “ “Judgment.” Joseph Campbell - June 20th, “ “Maurice Harte.” T. C. Murray - July 4th, “ “The Bogie Men.” Lady Gregory - Oct. 17th, “ “The Magnanimous Lover.” St. John G. Ervine - Nov. 21st, “ “Damer’s Gold.” Lady Gregory - -[2] First produced by an amateur company at the Molesworth Hall in -1909. - -[3] First produced at the Avenue Theatre, London, in 1894. - - -TRANSLATIONS OF THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN PRODUCED - - Apr. 16th, 1906. “The Doctor in spite of (Molière.) - Himself.” Translated by - Lady Gregory - Mar. 16th, 1907. “Interior.” (Maeterlinck.) - “ 19th, 1908. “Teja.” (Sudermann.) - Translated by - Lady Gregory - Apr. 4th, “ “The Rogueries of Scapin.” (Molière.) - Translated by - Lady Gregory - Jan. 21st, 1909. “The Miser.” (Molière.) - Translated by - Lady Gregory - Feb. 24th, 1910. “Mirandolina.” (Goldoni.) - Translated by - Lady Gregory - Jan. 5th, 1911. “Nativity Play.” (Douglas Hyde.) - Translated by - Lady Gregory - - -NEW PRODUCTIONS - - Nov. 21st, 1912. “The Hour Glass” Revised. - “ “ “ “Damer’s Gold.” - Jan. 23rd, 1913. “The Dean of St. Patrick’s.” G. Sidney - Paternoster - Feb. 6th, “ Revival, “Casting-out of R. J. Ray - Martin Whelan.” - “ 20th, “ “Hannele.” Gerhardt Hauptmann - Mar. 6th, “ “There are Crimes and Crimes.” August Strindberg - “ 13th, “ “The Cuckoo’s Nest.” John Guinan - Apr. 10th, “ “The Homecoming.” Gertrude Robins - “ 17th, “ “The Stronger.” August Strindberg - “ 24th, “ “The Magic Glasses.” George Fitzmaurice - “ 24th, “ “Broken Faith.” S. R. Day and - G. D. Cummins - May 17th, “ “The Post Office.” Rabindranath Tagore - - - - -APPENDIX II - -“THE NATION” ON “BLANCO POSNET” - - -We have often spoken in these columns of the condition of the -British drama and the various ways of mending it. But there is one -of its features, or, rather, one of its disabilities, as to which -some present decision must clearly be taken. That is the power of -the Censorship to warp it for evil, and to maim it for good. There -can be no doubt at all that this is the double function of the Lord -Chamberlain and his office. The drama that they pass on and therefore -commend to the people is a drama that is always earthly, often -sensual, and occasionally devilish; the drama which they refuse to -the people is a drama that seeks to be truthful, and is therefore -not concerned with average sensual views of life, and that might, if -it were encouraged, powerfully touch the neglected spheres of morals -and religion. As to the first count against the Censorship there is -and can be no defence. _Habemus confitentem reum._ The man who would -pass _Dear Old Charlie_ would pass anything. He has bound himself to -tolerate the drama of Wycherley and Congreve, of which it is a fairly -exact and clever revival, suited to modern hypocrisy as to ways of -expression, but equally audacious in its glorification of lying, -adultery, mockery, and light-mindedness. - -The case on the other count is, we think, sufficiently made out by -the Censor’s refusal to license Mr. Bernard Shaw’s one-act play, _The -Showing-up of Blanco Posnet_. It is fair to the Censor to explain -the grounds of his refusal. Mr. Shaw has been good enough to let the -editor of this paper see a copy both of his drama and of the official -letter refusing a “license for representation” unless certain -passages were expunged. There were two such passages. On the second -Mr. Shaw assures us that no difficulty could have occurred. It raised -a question of taste, on which he was willing to meet Mr. Redford’s -views. It seems to us outspoken rather than gross, but as it was not -the subject of controversy we dismiss it, and recur to the critical -point on which Mr. Shaw, considering--and, in our view, rightly -considering--that the heart and meaning of his play were at issue, -refused to give way. In order that we may explain the quarrel, it is -necessary to give some slight sketch of the character and intention -of _The Showing-up of Blanco Posnet_. We suggest as the simplest clue -to its tone and atmosphere that it reproduces in some measure the -subject and the feeling of Bret Harte’s _Luck of Roaring Camp_. It -depicts a coarse and violent society, governed by emotions and crude -wants rather than by principles and laws, a society of drunkards, -lynchers, duellists at sight, and, above all, horse-stealers--in -other words, a world of conventionally bad men, liable to good -impulses. The “hero” is something of a throw-back to Dick Dudgeon, -of the _Devil’s Disciple_; that is to say, he is reckless and an -outcast, who retains the primitive virtue of not lying to himself. - -The scene of the play is a trial for horse-stealing. Blanco is a -nominal--not a real--horse-stealer, that is to say, he has committed -the sin which a society of horsemen does not pardon. He has run away -with the Sheriff’s horse, believing it to be his brother’s, and -taking it on account of a fraudulent settlement of the family estate. -A man of his hands, he has yet allowed himself to be tamely captured -and brought before a jury of lynchers. Why? Well, he has been -upset, overtaken, his plan of life twisted and involved out of all -recognition. On his way with the horse, a woman met him with a child -dying of croup. She stopped him, thrust the sick child on to the -horse, and “commandeered” it for a ride to the nearest doctor’s. The -child has thrust its weak arms round his neck, and with that touch -all the strength has gone out of him. He gives up the horse and flies -away into the night, covering his retreat from this new superior -force with obscene curses, and surrendering, dismounting, dazed, and -helpless, to the Sheriff when the _posse comitatus_ catches him. - -Thenceforward two opposing forces rend him, and make life -unintelligible and unendurable while they struggle for his soul. -Dragged into the Sheriff’s court, he is prepared to fight for his -neck with the rascals who sit in judgment on him, to lie against -them, and to browbeat them. Unjust and filthy as they are, he will -be unjust and filthy too. But then there was this apparition of -the child. What did it mean? Why has it unmanned him? And here it -seems to him that God has at once destroyed and tricked him, for -the child is dead, and yet his life is forfeit to these brutes. -The situation--this sketch of a sudden, ruthless, unintelligible -interference with the lives of men--though apparently unknown to the -Censor, will be familiar to readers of the Bible and of religious -poetry and prose, and Mr. Shaw’s treatment of it could only offend -either the non-religious mind or the sincerely, but conventionally, -pious man who is so wrapt up in the emotional view of religion that -its sterner and deeper moralities escape him. The literary parallels -will at once occur. Browning chooses the subject in _Pippa Passes_, -and in the poem in which he describes how the strong man who had -hemmed in and surrounded his enemy suddenly found himself stayed by -the “arm that came across” and saved the wretch from vengeance. Ibsen -dwells on this divine thwarting and staying power in _Peer Gynt_, -and it is, of course, the opening theme of the _Pilgrim’s Progress_. -As it presents itself to a coarse and reckless, but sincere, man he -deals with it in coarse but sincere language--the language which the -Censor refuses to pass. Here is the offending passage, which occurs -in a dialogue between Blanco and his drunken hypocrite of a brother:-- - - “BLANCO: Take care, Boozy. He hasn’t finished with you yet. He - always has a trick up his sleeve. - - “ELDER DANIELS: Oh, is that the way to speak of the Ruler of the - Universe--the great and almighty God? - - “BLANCO: He’s a sly one. He’s a mean one. He lies low for you. He - plays cat and mouse with you. He lets you run loose until you think - you’re shut of Him; and then when you least expect it, He’s got you. - - “ELDER DANIELS: Speak more respectful, Blanco--more reverent. - - “BLANCO: Reverent! Who taught you your reverent cant? Not your - Bible. It says, ‘He cometh like a thief in the night’--aye, like a - thief--a horse-thief. And it’s true. That’s how He caught me and - put my neck into the halter. To spite me because I had no use for - Him--because I lived my own life in my own way, and would have no - truck with His ‘Don’t do this,’ and ‘You mustn’t do that,’ and - ‘You’ll go to hell if you do the other.’ I gave Him the go-bye, and - did without Him all these years. But He caught me out at last. The - laugh is with Him as far as hanging goes.” - -Now, let us first note the incapacity of the critic of such an -outburst as this to think in terms of the dramatic art--to divine the -_état d’âme_ of the speaker, and to recognise the method, and, within -bounds, the idiosyncracy of the playwright. But having regard to all -that the Censor has done and all that he has left undone, let us -also mark his resolve to treat as mere blasphemy on Mr. Shaw’s part -the artist’s endeavour to depict a rough man’s first consciousness of -a Power that, selecting Blanco as it selected Paul and John Bunyan, -threatens to drag him through moral shame and physical death, if need -be, to life, and not to let him go till He has wrought His uttermost -purpose on him. Mr. Shaw naturally makes Blanco talk as an American -horse-stealer would talk. But how does Job talk of God, or the -Psalmist, or the Author of the Parables? Nearly every one of Blanco -Posnet’s railings can be paralleled from Job. Listen to this:-- - - “The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are - secure, into whose hand God bringeth abundantly. - - “He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the - understanding of the aged. - - “He taketh the heart of the chief of the people of the earth and - causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. - - “They grope in the dark without light, and He maketh them to - stagger like a drunken man. - - * * * * * - - “Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with - His net. - - “He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and He hath set - darkness in my paths. - - “He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope - hath He removed like a tree.” - -Is this blasphemy? Is not Mr. Shaw’s theme and its expression a -reflection of Job’s, save that in the one case a bad man speaks, -and in the other a good one? If the answer is that these subjects, -these moral and religious relationships, must not be treated on the -stage, then we reply first that the Censor is grossly inconsistent, -for he did not veto the entire play, but only that passage which -most clearly revealed its meaning; secondly, that the licensing -of _Everyman_, and of Mr. Jerome’s _The Third Floor Back_, where -God appears, not merely as an influence on the lives of men, but -as a man, sitting at their table and sharing their talk, forbids -such an hypothesis; and thirdly, that if Mr. Redford holds this -view, he is convicted of opening the drama to horrible mockery of -life and sensual trifling with it, and closing it to those close -questionings of its purpose, which constitute the main theme of all -serious playwrights from Æschylus to Ibsen. That Mr. Shaw could have -consented to the omission of the passage we have quoted was out of -the question. It is vital. The entire play turns on it. For when -the woman comes into court and tells her story, it is seen that the -leaven which works in Blanco’s mind has leavened the lump; that the -prostitute who is for swearing away his life cannot speak, that -the ferocious jury will not convict, and the unjust judge will not -sentence. - -Mr. Shaw had, therefore, to fight for his play, and the Censor has to -come into the open and face the music; to reveal his theory of the -British drama, and illustrate his continual practice of it; which is -to warn off the artist and the preacher, and to clear the path for -the scoffer and the clown. - - -LETTER FROM W. G. BERNARD SHAW TO LADY GREGORY AFTER THE PRODUCTION -OF “BLANCO POSNET” - - DEAR LADY GREGORY: - -Now that the production of _Blanco Posnet_ has revealed the character -of the play to the public, it may be as well to clear up some of the -points raised by the action of the Castle in the matter. - -By the Castle, I do not mean the Lord Lieutenant. He was in Scotland -when the trouble began. Nor do I mean the higher officials and law -advisers. I conclude that they also were either in Scotland, or -preoccupied by the Horse Show, or taking their August holiday in -some form. As a matter of fact the friction ceased when the Lord -Lieutenant returned. But in the meantime the deputies left to attend -to the business of the Castle found themselves confronted with a -matter which required tactful handling and careful going. They did -their best; but they broke down rather badly in point of law, in -point of diplomatic etiquette, and in point of common knowledge. - -First, they committed the indiscretion of practically conspiring with -an English official who has no jurisdiction in Ireland in an attempt -to intimidate an Irish theatre. - -Second, they assumed that this official acts as the agent of the -King, whereas, as Sir Harry Poland established in a recent public -controversy on the subject, his powers are given him absolutely by -Act of Parliament (1843). If the King were to write a play, this -official could forbid its performance, and probably would if it were -a serious play and were submitted without the author’s name, or with -mine. - -Third, they assumed that the Lord Lieutenant is the servant of the -King. He is nothing of the sort. He is the Viceroy: that is, he _is_ -the King in the absence of Edward VII. To suggest that he is bound -to adopt the views of a St. James’s Palace official as to what is -proper to be performed in an Irish theatre is as gross a solecism -as it would be to inform the King that he must not visit Marienbad -because some Castle official does not consider Austria a sufficiently -Protestant country to be a fit residence for an English monarch. - -Fourth, they referred to the Select Committee which is now -investigating the Censorship in London whilst neglecting to inform -themselves of its purpose. The Committee was appointed because -the operation of the Censorship had become so scandalous that the -Government could not resist the demand for an inquiry. At its very -first sitting it had to turn the public and press out of the room -and close its doors to discuss the story of a play licensed by the -official who barred _Blanco Posnet_; and after this experience it -actually ruled out all particulars of licensed plays as unfit for -public discussion. With the significant exception of Mr. George -Edwards, no witness yet examined, even among those who have most -strongly supported the Censorship as an institution, has defended the -way in which it is now exercised. The case which brought the whole -matter to a head was the barring of this very play of mine, _The -Shewing up of Blanco Posnet_. All this is common knowledge. Yet the -Castle, assuming that I, and not the Censorship, am the defendant -in the trial now proceeding in London, treated me, until the Lord -Lieutenant’s return, as if I were a notoriously convicted offender. -This, I must say, is not like old times in Ireland. Had I been a -Catholic, a Sinn Feiner, a Land Leaguer, a tenant farmer, a labourer, -or anything that from the Castle point of view is congenitally -wicked and coercible, I should have been prepared for it; but if the -Protestant landed gentry, of which I claim to be a perfectly correct -member, even to the final grace of absenteeism, is to be treated in -this way by the Castle, then English rule must indeed be going to the -dogs. Of my position of a representative of literature I am far too -modest a man to speak; but it was the business of the Castle to know -it and respect it; and the Castle did neither. - -Fifth, they reported that my publishers had refused to supply a copy -of the play for the use of the Lord Lieutenant, leaving it to be -inferred that this was done by my instructions as a deliberate act of -discourtesy. Now no doubt my publishers were unable to supply a copy, -because, as it happened, the book was not published, and could not -be published until the day of the performance without forfeiting my -American copyright, which is of considerable value. Private copies -only were available; but if the holiday deputies of the Castle think -that the Lord Lieutenant found the slightest difficulty in obtaining -such copies, I can only pity their total failure to appreciate either -his private influence or his public importance. - -Sixth, they claimed that Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who highly values -good understanding with the Dublin public, had condemned the play. -What are the facts? Sir Herbert, being asked by the Select Committee -whether he did not think that my play would shock religious feeling, -replied point-blank, “No, it would heighten religious feeling.” He -announced the play for production at his theatre; the Censorship -forced him to withdraw it; and the King instantly shewed his opinion -of the Censorship by making Sir Herbert a Knight. But it also -happened that Sir Herbert, who is a wit, and knows the weight of the -Censor’s brain to half a scruple, said with a chuckle when he came -upon the phrase “immoral relations” in the play, “They won’t pass -that.” And they did not pass it. That the deputy officials should -have overlooked Sir Herbert’s serious testimony to the religious -propriety of the play, and harped on his little jest at the Censor’s -expense as if it were at my expense, is a fresh proof of the danger -of transacting important business at the Castle when all the -responsible officials are away bathing. - -On one point, however, the Castle followed the established Castle -tradition. It interpreted the patent (erroneously) as limiting the -theatre to Irish plays. Now the public is at last in possession of -the fact that the real protagonist in my play who does not appear -in person on the stage at all, is God. In my youth the Castle view -was that God is essentially Protestant and English; and as the -Castle never changes its views, it is bound to regard the divine -protagonist as anti-Irish and consequently outside the terms of the -patent. Whether it will succeed in persuading the Lord Lieutenant to -withdraw the patent on that ground will probably depend not only on -His Excellency’s theological views, but on his private opinion of -the wisdom with which the Castle behaves in his absence. The Theatre -thought the risk worth while taking; and I agreed with them. At all -events Miss Horniman will have no difficulty in insuring the patent -at an extremely reasonable rate. - -In conclusion, may I say that from the moment when the Castle made -its first blunder I never had any doubt of the result, and that I -kept away from Dublin, in order that our national theatre might -have the entire credit of handling and producing a new play without -assistance from the author or from any other person trained in the -English theatres. Nobody who has not lived, as I have to live, in -London, can possibly understand the impression the Irish players -made there this year, or appreciate the artistic value of their -performances, their spirit, and their methods. It has been suggested -that I placed _Blanco Posnet_ at their disposal only because it was, -as an unlicensed play, the refuse of the English market. As a matter -of fact there was no such Hobson’s choice in the matter. I offered -a licensed play as an alternative, and am all the more indebted to -Lady Gregory and Mr. Yeats for not choosing it. Besides, Ireland is -really not so negligible from the commercial-theatrical point of -view as some of our more despondent patriots seem to suppose. Of the -fifteen countries outside Britain in which my plays are performed, my -own is by no means the least lucrative; and even if it were, I should -not accept its money value as a measure of its importance. - - G. BERNARD SHAW. - - PARKNASILLA, - 27 August, 1909. - - - - -APPENDIX III - -“THE PLAYBOY IN AMERICA” - - -(_Note to page 180_) - -From “THE GAELIC AMERICAN,” Oct. 14, 1911 - -IRISHMEN WILL STAMP OUT THE “PLAYBOY” - -October 14, 1911:--“Resolved--That we, the United Irish-American -Societies of New York, make every reasonable effort, through a -committee, to induce those responsible for the presentation of _The -Playboy_ to withdraw it, and failing in this we pledge ourselves as -one man to use every means in our power to drive the vile thing from -the stage, as we drove _McFadden’s Row of Flats_ and the abomination -produced by the Russell Brothers, and we ask the aid in this work of -every decent Irish man and woman, and of the Catholic Church, whose -doctrines and devotional practices are held up to scorn and ridicule -in Synge’s monstrosity.” - - -(_Note to page 202_) - -From THE NEW YORK “TIMES” - -November 28, 1911:--When Christopher Mahon said: “I killed my father -a week and a half ago for the likes of that,” instantly voices began -to call from all over the theatre: - -“Shame! Shame!” - -A potato swept through the air from the gallery and smashed against -the wings. Then came a shower of vegetables that rattled against the -scenery and made the actors duck their heads and fly behind the stage -setting for shelter. - -A potato struck Miss Magee, and she, Irish like, drew herself up -and glared defiance. Men were rising in the gallery and balcony and -crying out to stop the performance. In the orchestra several men -stood up and shook their fists. - -“Go on with the play,” came an order from the stage manager, and the -players took their places and began again to speak their lines. - -The tumult broke out more violently than before, and more vegetables -came sailing through the air and rolled about the stage. Then began -the fall of soft cubes that broke as they hit the stage. At first -these filled the men and women in the audience and on the stage with -fear, for only the disturbers knew what they were. - -Soon all knew. They were capsules filled with asafœtida, and their -odour was suffocating and most revolting. - -One of the theatre employes had run to the street to ask for police -protection at the outset of the disturbance, but the response was -so slow that the ushers and the doortenders raced up the stairs and -threw themselves into a knot of men who were standing and yelling -“Shame!” - - -(_Note to page 205_) - -From THE NEW YORK “SUN” - -Wednesday, November 29, 1911:--Col. Theodore Roosevelt, who had -been entertained at dinner prior to the play by Lady Gregory, the -author-producer of many of the Irish plays, and Chief Magistrate -McAdoo sat with Lady Gregory in one of the lower tier boxes. Col. -Roosevelt was there representing the _Outlook_, for he said that if -he had any ideas on the subject of the morals and merits of Synge’s -play he would write them in Dr. Abbott’s paper, and Magistrate McAdoo -was there for Mayor Gaynor to stop the play if he saw anything -contrary to the public morals in it. Mr. McAdoo said that his task -was a light one and Col. Roosevelt did not have to say anything. He -just applauded. - - * * * * * - -When Col. Roosevelt appeared on a side aisle escorting Lady Gregory -to a seat in the box there was a patter of hand clapping and the -Colonel gallantly insisted that Lady Gregory should stand and receive -the applause. - -“He’s here because he smells a fight,” said some one in a whisper -that rebounded from the acoustic board overhead and was audible all -over the house. - -When Magistrate McAdoo arrived somebody asked him if he were serving -in an official capacity, to which he replied that the Mayor had asked -him to drop in and see the play which had so roused the wrath of -reputed Irishmen on the night before. He had orders, McAdoo said, to -squash it the minute that he should see or hear anything that might -be considered to have tobogganed over the line of discretion. But Mr. -McAdoo said that he thought he would understand in a fair spirit, -withal, the satire and irony of the play, if there was such, and he -did not intend to be a martinet. The players graciously handed him -out the prompt book between acts to see for himself that the line -about “shifts” which had raised a storm of protest in Dublin as being -indelicate had been deleted. - -Nothing happened during the playing of the little curtain-raiser, -_The Gaol Gate_, Lady Gregory’s grim little tragedy of suffering -Ireland, except that near the end of the single act in the playlet -people in the gallery began a noisy warming up on their coughs and -sneezes. Some of the plain-clothes men there began to amble around -back of the aisles, and they laid their eyes on one individual with -a thick neck who seemed about to pull something out from under his -coat. Him they landed just as a quick curtain fell on the act and -without ado they ousted him. - -The citizen began to protest loudly that he was wedged in his seat -and could not stir, but two of the strong arms persuaded him that he -might as well unwedge himself before something happened. The little -interlude was not sufficiently stirring even to attract the notice of -those in the balcony and orchestra below. - -Everybody believed that the trouble was all past with the second act, -but the third and last was the noisiest of the three. - -It appeared that, failing to find any single line to which they could -take exception, those who had come to protest against what they -conceived to be the libelling of the Irish race were ready to take it -out in one long spell of hissing. - -The cue was given when the drunken Michael James, the inn keeper, -came on the stage to unite with a maudlin blessing the lovers, -Christopher and Margaret. - -As in the second act the seat of disturbance was in the balcony -and thither six plain-clothes men were hastened. Three heads were -together and one man was beating time with his hand while they took -relays in hissing. The plain-clothes men descended and the three were -yanked from their seats without benefit of explanation. - -“But we’re Englishmen,” said one of them, “and we take exception to -the line, ‘Khaki clad cut-throats,’ meaning of course the English -constabulary.” - -“And don’t call me an Irishman,” said the third, while he adjusted -his neck gingerly in the collar that had been tightened by the cop’s -grip. “I’m a Jew and I was born in St. Joe, Missoury, and I think -this play’s rotten, just on general principles. And if I think so -I’ve got a right to show it. The law holds that anybody has got as -good a right to show displeasure at a play as pleasure and I saw my -lawyer before I came here, and----” - - -LETTER FROM MR. JOHN QUINN - -TO THE EDITOR OF A DUBLIN NEWSPAPER - -DEAR SIR: Now that the Irish players have been to New York and their -work seen and judged, the readers of your paper may be interested -in the publication of one or two facts in connection with their -visit. For some time before the company came to New York there had -been threats of an organised attempt by a small coterie of Irishmen -to prevent the performance of Synge’s _Playboy_. It was difficult -for many people in New York who are interested in the drama and art -to take these rumours seriously. The attempt to prevent the New -York public from hearing the work of these Irish players of course -failed. There was an organised attempt by perhaps a hundred or a -hundred and fifty Irishmen on the first night _The Playboy_ was -given here to prevent the performance by hissing and booing, and by -throwing potatoes and other objects at the actors, and red pepper and -asafœtida among the audience. The disturbers were ejected from the -theatre by the police. All the great metropolitan papers, morning and -evening, condemned this organised disturbance. The second night, some -six or seven disturbers were put out of the theatre by the police, -and that was the end of the long-threatened attempt to break up the -performance of these plays. The issue was not between the plays and -the players and the disturbers, but between the New York public -and the disturbers. This fight over Synge was of vast importance -for us as a city. One night settled that question and settled it -conclusively. - -I have seen in some of the daily and one of the weekly Irish papers a -statement to the effect that “_The Playboy_ was hooted from the stage -... after the worst riot ever witnessed in a New York playhouse.” The -statement that it was “hooted from the stage” is of course utterly -false. The greatest disorder occurred during the first act. A few -minutes after the curtain fell at the end of the first act it was -raised again and the statement was made by a member of the company -that the act would be given entirely over again. This announcement -was greeted with cheers and applause from the great majority of the -audience, who indignantly disapproved the attempt of the disturbers -to prevent the performance. The play was not “hooted from the stage.” - -The attempt to prevent by force the hearing of the play having so -signally failed, a committee waited upon the Mayor of New York City -the next day and demanded the suppression of the plays. The Mayor -requested Chief Judge McAdoo of the Court of Special Sessions to -attend the play as his representative and report to him. Judge McAdoo -is an Irishman, born in Ireland, and has had a distinguished public -career as member of Congress, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and -Police Commissioner of New York City, and he is now Chief Judge of -the Court of Special Sessions. Judge McAdoo attended the play and -made a report to the Mayor completely rejecting the charges that had -been made against the morals and ethics of the play. - -Both attempts to prevent the performance of the play, the first by -force and the second by appeal to the authorities, having completely -failed, the work of distorting in the Irish papers what actually took -place then began. - -Among other things it has been stated that the Abbey Theatre company -was not a success in New York. On the contrary the success of the -company has been beyond anything in my personal experience. The -verdict of critical and artistic New York in favour of the work of -the Irish Theatre has been emphatic. The pick of the intellectual and -artistic public crowded the theatre during the weeks of the company’s -performances here and admired and enjoyed their work. In fact -intelligent New Yorkers are yet wondering what was the real cause of -the attempt to prevent the hearing of the plays. This is one of the -mysteries of this winter in New York. I am proud, as a citizen of New -York, that New York’s verdict of approval was so swift and decisive, -and I am proud of New York’s quick recognition of the excellence of -the new Irish school of drama and acting. As a man of Irish blood, -my chief regret is that organised prejudice and prejudgment should -have prevented these players from getting that welcome from a section -of their own countrymen that I feel sure they will secure in future -years. This prejudice was created and the prejudgment was largely -caused by the publication of detached sentences and quotations from -the plays, while ignoring the art of the actors and the humour and -poetry and imaginative beauty of the plays, beauties which, as Sir -Philip Sidney would say, “who knoweth not to be flowers of poetry did -never walk into Apollo’s garden.” - -Not only have the New York daily papers devoted columns to the work -of this company throughout their stay, giving elaborate reviews of -their work and long interviews with Lady Gregory and others, but many -magazines have had articles on the subject of the plays and writers -and on the Irish dramatic movement generally, among others the _Yale -Review_, the _Harvard Monthly_, _Collier’s Weekly_, the _Nation_ (two -notices), the _Dramatic Mirror_ (five notices), the _Metropolitan -Magazine_, _Munsey’s Magazine_, the _Craftsman_, _Life_, _Harper’s -Weekly_ (containing repeated notices), the _Outlook_, the _Bookman_, -and others. Lady Gregory has contributed articles to the _Yale -Review_, the _World of Today_ and the _Delineator_, and has lectured -at many places upon the Irish dramatic movement. The universities -and colleges have shown the liveliest interest in the movement. The -professors have lectured upon the plays and the plays have been -studied in the college classes and the students have been advised to -read them and see the players. - - -“THE PLAYBOY” IN PHILADELPHIA - -(_Note to page 218_) - -From PHILADELPHIA “NORTH AMERICAN” - -January 17, 1912:--Determined to force their dramatic views on the -public despite the arrests at Monday night’s demonstration, several -Irishmen last night vented their disapproval of _The Playboy of the -Western World_ which had its second production by Irish Players at -the Adelphi Theatre. - -They started by coughing, and they caused the player-folk to become -slightly nervous. They next essayed hissing, and cries of “shame,” -and finally one of their number rose to his feet in a formal protest. - -Plain-clothes men throughout the house quelled the slight -disturbance, but at every opportunity another belligerent broke into -unruly behaviour. - -The disorder approached the dignity of serious rioting in the second -and third acts of the piece, and at the last a man from Connemara -rose in the body of the house, whipped a speech from his coat pocket, -and proceeded to interrupt the players with a harangue against the -morality of the play. - -His philippics were short-lived. Sixteen cops in plain clothes -reached him at the same time, and the red man from Connemara -disappeared, while the play was being brought to a close.... - -Extra precautions were taken by the police to preserve order at last -night’s performance. The lights in the back of the house were not -turned down at any time except the first few minutes of the one-act -play _Kathleen ni Houlihan_ which was the curtain-raiser to the -longer piece. - -Evidence that there would be trouble later in the evening was plain. -Nearly the whole rear part of the house downstairs was filled with -Irishmen. - -As the little poetic vision of the author unrolled itself and the -enthusiastic and for the most part cultured audience was steeping -itself in the lyric beauty of the lines, two whole rows of the -auditors were seized with a desire to cough or clear their throats. -That caused a momentary lull in the play. - -Up in the top gallery a thin but insistent ventriloquist piped, “This -is rotten!” Cries of “Hush!” quieted the interrupter. - -In the first act of _The Playboy_ where the bulk of the disturbance -occurred Monday night, no expression of opinion was made. But just -as every one was settling down to enjoy the play, confident no more -interruptions would occur, the trouble began. - -One of the clan downstairs cried out his disapprobation. The lights -were turned on full tilt, and policemen in plain clothes sprang up -from every quarter of the house. Women left their seats in fear. A -misguided youth near the orchestra threw his programme, doubled into -a ball, at Miss Magee. He was promptly arrested. - -The play was stopped for fully five minutes until all the men who -showed signs of making trouble were evicted. A number of them laid -low, however, and bobbed up now and again, whenever they wanted to. -It kept the cops busy hustling them out of the doors. Superintendent -Taylor and Captain of the Detectives Souder were in charge of the -evictions and as each man was taken out two detectives were sent with -him to City Hall where all were locked in. - -The climax came when near the close of the last act the man from -Connaught began his oratorical flights, drowning the speeches of the -actors on the stage. All interest then centred upon the little knot -of strugglers in the main aisle of the theatre and four more Irishmen -were escorted, hatless and without overcoats, to the street. - -As the men were arraigned at the City Hall, William A. Gray, counsel -for the offenders at Monday night’s riot, appeared for them. He -said he had been sent by Joseph McLaughlin, a saloon-keeper and -vice-president of the A. O. H., and he obtained a copy of the -charges, with a view to getting the men out on bail.... Mr. Gray said -he intended taking the matter before the courts and asking for an -injunction to prohibit further productions of the play. He said his -backer was Joseph McGarrity, a wholesale liquor dealer, in business -at 144 South Third Street, who was one of those ejected from the -theatre on Monday night. - -Headed by Joseph McLaughlin, a delegation of seven prominent members -of the Irish societies of the city waited on Mayor Blankenburg -yesterday with a petition asking him to stop the production of John -M. Synge’s comedy _The Playboy of the Western World_ on the ground -that it is immoral. - -The Mayor heard the comments of the Irishmen, but with great -good humour pointed out that inasmuch as he could find nothing -objectionable in the play, he could not promise to stop the -production. - -He informed the delegation that he had previously made inquiries of -the mayors of New York, Boston, and Providence, where the play had -been shown, and had received answers which plainly indicated it was -not necessary to stop the play. - - -(_Note to page 226_) - -From PHILADELPHIA “NORTH AMERICAN” - -IRISH PLAYERS APPEAR IN A “COURT COMEDY”; NO DECISION - -ANSWER CHARGE OF “IMMORALITY” BROUGHT BY A LIQUOR DEALER--“PLAYBOY” -DEFENDED AND ATTACKED BY WITNESSES - -January 20, 1912:--Second only in point of order, not in worth, -was the unadvertised comedy participated in by the Irish Players -yesterday afternoon, at a matinée performance held in Judge Carr’s -room in the quarter sessions court. - -The public flocked to see, and stayed to witness, a most complete -vindication of Synge’s much discussed satirisation of the Irish -character. The actors arrested for appearing in _The Playboy of -the Western World_ kept, however, in the background, while counsel -on both sides engaged in lively tilts with two members of the -clergy and the judge and other witnesses, furnishing the crowd with -entertainment. - -Eleven of the Irish Players who were held in $500 bail each by -Magistrate Carey, at a hearing in his office earlier in the day, -threw themselves upon the mercy of the quarter sessions court, -to obtain a legal decision as to whether their play violated the -McNichol act of 1911, which makes it a misdemeanor to present -“lascivious, sacrilegious, obscene or indecent plays.” The hearing -before the court was brought about by a habeas corpus proceeding. - -Although no decision was handed down after the argument, the attitude -of the court was plainly shown, by the line of questions put to -various witnesses. The testimony offered by Director of Public Safety -Porter, who was called by the commonwealth, indicated that no fault -could be found with the play. Judge Carr reserved decision, and -adjourned court until Monday. - -The defendants were represented by Charles Biddle, William Redheffer, -Jr., Howard H. Yocum, and John Quinn, of New York. Directly back of -them, in the courtroom, sat Lady Gregory, Mrs. Henry La Barre Jayne, -and W. W. Bradford, the latter representing Liebler & Co., managers -of the Irish Players. - - -SURPRISE FOR PROSECUTOR - -William A. Gray represented Joseph McGarrity, the liquor dealer, who -has taken principal part in the prosecution of the actors. He was -aided at times by Assistant District Attorney Fox on behalf of the -commonwealth, although the latter’s action in calling Director Porter -to give testimony caused Mr. Gray both surprise and embarrassment, -inasmuch as Mr. Porter said there was nothing in the piece to offend -the most devout and reverent of women. He said he had attended the -theatre with his wife and that neither of them was “shocked”; on the -contrary, distinctly pleased. - -Mr. Gray called Joseph McGarrity to the stand. In all seriousness and -sincerity the witness testified that, in his opinion, _The Playboy_ -was a wicked piece and that he thought he had a perfect right to show -his disapproval by protesting. He was questioned by Judge Carr as to -the reason why he did not leave the theatre before he was ejected, if -he thought the play was bad. He could give no adequate reply. - -Mr. Gray then read passages from the book, declaring that it had -been expurgated to make it presentable on the American stage. -Frederick O’Donovan, one of the company, who takes the part of the -Playboy, testified that productions of the play had been made in -Dublin, Belfast, Cork, London, Oxford, Cambridge, Harrowgate, Boston, -New York, New Haven, and Providence without causing any public -disturbance except in New York, and without any criminal prosecution -being brought anywhere. - -It was pointed out to the court by Mr. Gray that Pennsylvania is the -only State having a statute preventing immoral or sacrilegious plays -and that this was of so recent a date that neither side could argue -that other plays of a much more objectionable nature than this had -been permitted without hindrance. - -Mr. Biddle and Mr. Quinn then summed up their arguments, in which -the court concurred, openly. The New York lawyer paid a tribute to -Philadelphia concerning the testimony of Director Porter. He said: -“Philadelphia ought to be proud of the manhood displayed by such a -witness. He stood before this court and testified that he and his -wife had witnessed the performance, and that neither was displeased -by any exhibition of immorality. - -“I say that any man who takes a lascivious meaning out of any of -the lines of the play, or who declares that the piece is in any way -improper, must have a depraved and an abnormal mind. - -“I am ashamed that such men should come here and insult womanhood -with their views. The American people are too good a judge of the -Irish race to agree with them.” - -The court then took the case under advisement, reserving decision, -counsel agreeing, under his advice, to allow the company to renew its -bail bond of $5000. - - -(_Note to page 242_) - -“THE PLAYBOY” IN CHICAGO - -From CHICAGO “DAILY TRIBUNE” - -January 30, 1913:--Mayor Harrison last night was directed by an order -passed by the city council to prohibit the presentation in Chicago -of _The Playboy of the Western World_, a play which has caused riots -and organised protests in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington when -presented by the Irish Players. - -What action the mayor will take he was not prepared to indicate at -the conclusion of the council session. It was stated during the -debate on the subject that the mayor holds discretionary powers, and -with the backing of the council can prevent the play if he chooses. -But there is nothing mandatory in the order of the council, which -asked the mayor to co-operate with Chief of Police McWeeny. - -The Mayor said he would investigate the legal phases and also look -into the character of the play before he decided upon steps to take. - -[Illustration: (Threatening letter received by Lady Gregory)] - - -MCINERNEY LEADS FIGHT - -Ald. Michael McInerney led the movement for the council order. - -“The play is a studied sarcasm on the Irish race,” asserted Mr. -McInerney, reading from a typewritten sheet; “it points no moral, and -it teaches no lesson.” - -“Press agent!” shouted some one. - -“No, I’m not the press agent,” asserted the alderman. “This play -pictures an Irishman a coward, something that never happened, and -it attacks the Irishwoman. There are no Irishmen connected with the -company in any way.” - -In reply to a question whether Lady Gregory was Irish, McInerney -replied he had not met “the lady,” and then added: - -“There’s a difference in being from Ireland and being Irish. There -are lots of people in Ireland that aren’t Irish. If you’re born in a -stable, that doesn’t make you a horse.” - -Mr. Pringle stopped unanimous passage of the resolution. - -“While I am not Irish,” he said, “I believe Ald. McInerney knows what -he is talking about; but I do not know enough about this subject to -vote upon it at this time.” - -“Like Ald. Pringle,” said Ald. Thomson, “I am not sufficiently -informed, and I shall ask to be excused from voting.” - - -GERMANS STRONG FOR IRISH - -“Since some leading Irish organisations have chosen Germans to lead -them,” said Ald. Henry Utpatel, “I feel that that fact alone makes -them a great race, and I shall vote with Ald. McInerney.” - -“Would you like to hear from the Poles?” asked Ald. Frank P. Danisch. - -“That’s all right,” said McInerney, “if this play is presented there -will come along a play insulting the Poles or some other race. It is -not right for Chicago to let any race be insulted.” - -The order was then adopted, Ald. Pringle and Thomson voting in the -negative. - - -(_Note to page 246_) - -From CHICAGO “RECORD-HERALD” - -February 1, 1912:--Chicago’s City Council erred in passing an order -directing the mayor and the chief of police to stop the production -_The Playboy of the Western World_ according to an opinion sent to -Mayor Harrison yesterday by William H. Sexton, the city’s corporation -counsel. - -The brief was prepared by William Dillon, brother of John Dillon, the -Irish nationalist leader, one of Mr. Sexton’s assistants. It held -that the counsel order was of no legal effect, although the mayor -could suppress the play if he decided that it was immoral or against -public policy. Mr. Dillon further declared that the mayor would not -be legally right in prohibiting the production. - -“I read three pages of the book,” declared Mayor Harrison, “and -instead of finding anything immoral I found that the whole thing was -wonderfully stupid. I shall abide by the corporation’s opinion.” - - -Interview for NEW YORK “EVENING SUN” - -GEORGE BERNARD SHAW ON THE IRISH PLAYERS - -“I presume, Mr. Shaw, you have heard the latest news of your _Blanco -Posnet_ in America with the Irish Players?” he was asked. - -“No. Why? Has it failed?” Mr. Shaw answered. - -“Quite the contrary,” he was assured. - -“Oh, in that case why should I hear about it?” he said. “Success is -the usual thing with my plays; it is what I write them for. I only -hear about them when something goes wrong.” - -“But are you not interested in the success of the Irish Players? Or -was that a matter of course too?” - -“By no means,” Mr. Shaw answered. “I warned Lady Gregory that America -was an extremely dangerous country to take a real Irish company to.” - -“But why? Surely America, with its immense Irish element----” - -“Rubbish! There are not half a dozen real Irishmen in America -outside that company of actors!” he exclaimed. “You don’t suppose -that all these Murphys and Doolans and Donovans and Farrells and -Caseys and O’Connells who call themselves by romantic names like the -Clan-na-Gael and the like are Irishmen! You know the sort of people I -mean. They call Ireland the Old Country.... - -“Shall I tell you what they did in Dublin to the Irish Players? There -was a very great Irish dramatic poet, who died young, named John -Synge--a real Irish name--just the sort of name the Clan-na-Gael -never think of. - -“Well, John Synge wrote a wonderful play called _The Playboy of the -Western World_, which is now a classic. This play was not about an -Irish peculiarity, but about a universal weakness of mankind: the -habit of admiring bold scoundrels. Most of the heroes of history -are bold scoundrels, you will notice. English and American boys -read stories about Charles Peace, the burglar, and Ned Kelly, the -highwayman, and even about Teddy Roosevelt, the rough-rider. The -Playboy is a young man who brags of having killed his father, and -is made almost as great a hero as if he were an Italian general who -had killed several thousand other people’s fathers. Synge satirises -this like another Swift, but with a joyousness and a wild wealth of -poetic imagery that Swift never achieved. Well, sir, if you please, -this silly Dublin Clan-na-Gael, or whatever it called itself, -suddenly struck out the brilliant idea that to satirise the follies -of humanity is to insult the Irish nation, because the Irish nation -is, in fact, the human race and has no follies, and stands there pure -and beautiful and saintly to be eternally oppressed by England and -collected for by the Clan. There were just enough of them to fill -the Abbey Street Theatre for a night or two to the exclusion of the -real Irish people, who simply get sick when they hear this sort of -balderdash talked about Ireland. Instead of listening to a great -play by a great Irishman they bawled and whistled and sang ‘God Save -Ireland’ (not without reason, by the way), and prevented themselves -from hearing a word of the performance....” - -“Do you think there will be trouble with the Clan in New York?” - -“I think there may be trouble anywhere where there are men who have -lost touch with Ireland and still keep up the old bragging and -posing. You must bear in mind that Ireland is now in full reaction -against them. The stage Irishman of the nineteenth century, generous, -drunken, thriftless, with a joke always on his lips and a sentimental -tear always in his eye, was highly successful as a borrower of money -from Englishmen--both in Old and New England--who indulged and -despised him because he flattered their sense of superiority. But the -real Irishman of to-day is so ashamed of him and so deeply repentant -for having ever stooped to countenance and ape him in the darkest -days of the Captivity that the Irish Players have been unable to -find a single play by a young writer in which Ireland is not lashed -for its follies. We no longer brazen out the shame of our subjection -by idle boasting. Even in Dublin, that city of tedious and silly -derision where men can do nothing but sneer, they no longer sneer -at other nations. In a modern Irish play the hero doesn’t sing that -‘Ould Ireland’ is his country and his name it is Molloy; he pours -forth all his bitterness on it like the prophets of old. - -“The last time I saw an Irish play in Dublin, the line on which the -hero made his most effective exit was ‘I hate Ireland.’ Even in the -plays of Lady Gregory, penetrated as they are by that intense love of -Ireland which is unintelligible to the many drunken blackguards with -Irish names who make their nationality an excuse for their vices and -their worthlessness, there is no flattery of the Irish; she writes -about the Irish as Molière wrote about the French, having a talent -curiously like Molière. - -“In the plays of Mr. Yeats you will find many Irish heroes, but -nothing like ‘the broth of a boy.’ Now you can imagine the effect -of all this on the American pseudo-Irish, who are still exploiting -the old stage Ireland for all it is worth, and defiantly singing: -‘Who fears to speak of ’98?’ under the very nose of the police--that -is, the New York police, who are mostly Fenians. Their notion of -patriotism is to listen jealously for the slightest hint that Ireland -is not the home of every virtue and the martyr of every oppression, -and thereupon to brawl and bully or to whine and protest, according -to their popularity with the bystanders. When these people hear a -little real Irish sentiment from the Irish Players they will not know -where they are; they will think that the tour of the Irish company is -an Orange conspiracy financed by Mr. Balfour.” - -“Have you seen what the Central Council of the Irish County -Association of Greater Boston says about the Irish Players?” - -“Yes; but please do not say I said so; it would make them -insufferably conceited to know that their little literary effort had -been read right through by me. You will observe that they begin by -saying that they know their Ireland as children know their mother. -Not a very happy bit of rhetoric that, because children never do know -their mothers; they may idolise them or fear them, as the case may -be, but they don’t know them. - -“But can you conceive a body of Englishmen or Frenchmen or Germans -publishing such silly stuff about themselves or their country? If -they said such a thing in Ireland they would be laughed out of the -country. They declare that they are either Irish peasants or the -sons of Irish peasants. What on earth does the son of an American -emigrant know about Ireland? Fancy the emigrant himself, the man who -has left Ireland to stew in its own juice, talking about feeling -toward Ireland as children feel toward their mother. Of course a -good many children do leave their mothers to starve; but I doubt if -that was what they meant. No doubt they are peasants--a name, by the -way, which they did not pick up in Ireland, where it is unknown--for -they feel toward literature and art exactly as peasants do in all -countries; that is, they regard them as departments of vice--of what -policemen call gayety.... - -“Good heavens!” exclaimed Bernard Shaw, waving a cutting from the -_Post_ in his hand, “see how they trot out all the old rubbish. -‘Noble and impulsive,’ ‘generous, harum-scarum, lovable characters,’ -‘generosity, wit, and triumphant true love’; these are the national -characteristics they modestly claim as Irishmen who know Ireland as -children know their mother....” - -“May I ask one more question, Mr. Shaw? Who is the greatest living -Irishman?” - -“Well, there are such a lot of them. Mr. Yeats could give you -off-hand the names of six men, not including himself or myself, who -may possibly turn out to be the greatest of us all; for Ireland since -she purified her soul from the Clan-na-Gael nonsense, is producing -serious men; not merely Irishmen, you understand--for an Irishman is -only a parochial man after all--but men in the fullest international -as well as national sense--the wide human sense.” - -“There is an impression in America, Mr. Shaw, that you regard -yourself as the greatest man that ever lived.” - -“I dare say. I sometimes think so myself when the others are doing -something exceptionally foolish. But I am only one of the first -attempts of the new Ireland. She will do better--probably has done -better already--though the product is not yet grown up enough to be -interviewed. Good morning.” - - -From “THE GAELIC AMERICAN” - -WHAT THE IRISH COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS OF BOSTON SAID OF BERNARD SHAW - -January 13, 1912:--The writer of such fool conceptions is as blind as -an eight-hour-old puppy to the operation of all spiritual agencies -in the life of man. Shaw’s writings bear about the same relation -to genuine literature as Bryan O’Lynn’s extemporised timepiece, -a scooped out turnip with a cricket within, does to the Greenwich -Observatory.... - -Shaw stumbles along the bogs, morasses, and sand dunes of literature, -without a terminal, leading the benighted and lost wayfarers still -farther astray. His unhappy possession of infinite egotism and his -utter lack of common sense make of him a _rara avis_ indeed, a cross -between a peacock and a gander.... - -In conclusion let us say before we again notice this Barnum of -literature he must produce a clean bill of sanity, superscribed by -some reputable alienist. - - - - -APPENDIX IV - -IN THE EYES OF OUR ENEMIES - - -From “AMERICA” - -THE PLAYS OF THE “IRISH” PLAYERS - -November 4, 1911:--The editors, like the patriots of the Boyle -O’Reilly Club who fêted him in Boston, took Mr. Yeats at his own -none too modest estimation. The United Irish Societies of this city -denounced _The Playboy_, and an advanced Gaelic organ exposed its -barbarities, but gave a clean bill of health to Mr. Yeats and the -rest of his programme. Doubtless they also had not read the plays -they approved. Well, we have read them. We found several among them -more vile, more false, and far more dangerous than _The Playboy_, -the ‘bestial depravity’ of which carries its own condemnation; and -we deliberately pronounce them the most malignant travesty of Irish -character and of all that is sacred in Catholic life that has come -out of Ireland. The details, which are even more shocking than those -of _The Playboy_, are too indecent for citation, but the persistent -mendacity of the Yeats press agency’s clever conspiracy of puff makes -it needful to give our readers some notion of their character. - -Of Synge’s plays only _Riders to the Sea_, an un-Irish adaptation -to Connacht fishermen of Loti’s _Pecheurs d’Islande_, is fit -for a decent audience. None but the most rabidly anti-Catholic, -priest-hating bigots could enjoy _The Tinkers’ Wedding_.[4] The -plot, which involves an Irish priest in companionship with the -most degraded pagans and hinges on his love of gain, may not be -even outlined by a self-respecting pen. The open lewdness and foul -suggestiveness of the language is so revolting, the picture of -the Irish priesthood, drawn by this parson’s son, is so vile and -insulting, and the mockery of the Mass and sacraments so blasphemous, -that it is unthinkable how any man of healthy mind could father it or -expect an audience to welcome it. This is the “typical Irish play” -which the “Irish Players” have presented to a Boston audience. - - * * * * * - -The twain are kindred spirits; but in vileness of caricature and -bitterness of anti-Catholic animus, even Synge must yield to Yeats. -He also goes to tinkers for his types; and whereas Synge is content -with three, and one priest, Yeats’s _Where there is Nothing_[4] -glorifies a bevy of unbelieving tinkers and presents in contrast a -dozen vulgar-spoken monks, who utter snatches of Latin in peasant -brogue, while dancing frantically around the altar of God! - -[4] Neither _The Tinkers’ Wedding_ nor _Where there is Nothing_ has -ever been given by our Company.--A. G. - - -From “THE GAELIC AMERICAN” - -YEATS’S ANTI-IRISH CAMPAIGN - -November 18, 1911:--The anti-Irish players come to New York on -Nov. 20th, and will appear first in some of the other plays. _The -Playboy_, it is announced, will be given later, but the date has -not yet been given out. The presentation of the monstrosity is a -challenge to the Irish people of New York which will be taken up. -There will be no parleying with theatre managers, or appeals to Lady -Gregory’s sense of decency. _The Playboy_ must be squelched, as the -stage Irishman was squelched, and a lesson taught to Mr. Yeats and -his fellow-agents of England that they will remember while they live. - - * * * * * - -When a woman chooses to put herself in the company of male -blackguards she has no right to appeal for respect for her sex. - - -MRS. MARY F. MCWHORTER, NATIONAL CHAIRMAN, L. A., A. O. H., IRISH -HISTORY COMMITTEE, WRITING IN “THE NATIONAL HIBERNIAN,” 1913 - -When it was announced about two months ago that the Abbey players -would appear in repertory at the Fine Arts Theatre, in the city of -Chicago, I made up my mind to witness all of the Abbey output, if -possible, and see if they were as black as some painted them, and now -I feel I have earned the right to qualify as a critic. - -Having seen them all, I have this to say, that, with one or two -exceptions, they are the sloppiest, and in most cases the vilest, -and the most character-assassinating things, in the shape of plays -it has ever been my misfortune to see. If, as has been often stated, -the plays were written with the intention of belittling the Irish -race and the ideals and traditions of that race, the playwrights have -succeeded as far as they intended, for the majority of the plays -leave us nothing to our credit. - -Thinking the matter over now, I cannot understand why _The Playboy_ -was picked out as the one most dangerous to our ideals. True, _The -Playboy_ is bad and very bad, but it is so glaringly so, it defeats -its own ends by causing a revulsion of feeling. - -There are other plays in the collection, however, that are apparently -harmless; comedies that will cause you to laugh heartily, ’tis true, -but in the middle of the laugh you stop as if some one slapped you -in the face. You begin to see, in place of the harmless joke, an -insidious dig at something you hold sacred, or, if it is something -you think is inspiring and patriotic, right in the midst of the thing -that carries you away for a few moments on the wings of your lofty -dreams and inspirations some monster of mockery will intrude his ugly -face, and again the doubt, “Is it ridicule?” The certainty follows -the doubt quickly, and you know it is ridicule, and immediately you -are possessed of an insane desire to seek out Lady Gregory or some -one else connected with the plays and then and there commit murder. -That is, you will, if you have the welfare of your race at heart. -Of course, if you are careless, or in some cases ignorant of the -history of Ireland, or unfamiliar with the conditions there, you will -accept the teaching of the Abbey school, and say to yourself, “The -Irish are a lazy, crafty, miserly, insincere, irreligious lot after -all.” - -In _The Rising of the Moon_ our patriotism is attacked, not openly, -of course, but by innuendo. We are made to appear everything but what -we are. The policy of “Let well enough alone,” is the keynote of this -play, bringing out the avarice and selfishness that, according to the -Abbey school, is a part of our nature. - -It has often been said by our enemies that to have a priest in the -family is to be considered very respectable by the average Irish -Catholic family, and to bring about this desired result we are -willing to sell our immortal souls. All this, not from motives of -piety, but to be considered respectable. - -In the play _Maurice Harte_ this is brought out very forcibly. The -family sacrifices everything to keep the candidate for the priesthood -in college. The candidate has no vocation, but he is not consulted -at all. When this poor, spineless creature sees the members of the -family have set their hearts upon his becoming a priest he lets -matters drift till the day set for his ordination, and then we behold -him going mad. All very far-fetched. - -We do admit that we like to have a priest in the family--what Irish -mother but will cherish this hope in her bosom for at least one of -her sons, or that one of the daughters of the house will become the -spouse of Christ? Not, however, from such an unworthy motive as -to be considered respectable, but from the pure motive of serving -Almighty God. - -_The Workhouse Ward_ gives you nothing more edifying than the picture -of two hateful old men snarling at each other in a truly disgusting -manner. - -_Coats_ gives the picture of two seedy, down-at-elbows editors, who, -while apparently the best of friends, still are thinking unutterable -things of each other. - -_The Building Fund_ is a disgusting display of avarice and -insincerity. It strikes at the roots of all we hold sacred, and -instead of being sincere, religious Catholics, the family is depicted -as grasping, miserly creatures, who have no real love for the Church. -There is not a redeeming feature in the whole play. - -_Family Failing_, to my notion, is the worst of the output. _Family -Failing_, of course, is idleness and all it carries with it. It is -a strong witness in favor of that old fallacy, so often repeated by -our enemies, that it was not the cruelty of English laws that sent -us forth wanderers, but our lazy, idle, shiftless ways. The curtain -goes down after the last act of this play on a disgusting spectacle -of a lazy uncle snoring asleep on one side of the stage, and his lazy -nephew occupying the other side, snoring also. - -_Kathleen ni Houlihan_ is beautiful, but every one knows Yeats -wrote this before he became a pagan and went astray. His _Countess -Cathleen_, written since then, is a weird thing.[5] One can see he -strives after his early ideals, but it is a failure, for who can -picture a sincere, devout Catholic lady calmly selling her soul -to the devil, even though it is to purchase the souls of her poor -dependents. And it is a rather dangerous lesson it teaches to the -weak minded, when the angel comes to console the weeping peasantry -after the countess dies. Supposedly in damnation, he tells them she -is saved, because of the good intention she had in selling her soul -to Old Nick. - -[5] The first performance of _The Countess Cathleen_ was in 1899; -_Kathleen ni Houlihan_ was written in 1902. - -_The Magnanimous Lover_ presents the nasty problem play. Of course -our humiliation would not be complete without the “problem play.” And -the words that this play puts in the mouth of the Irish peasant girl! - -My blood boiled as I listened. What on earth do our Irish peasants -know about the nasty problems so much affected by certain writers of -to-day? American newspaper correspondents have commented from time to -time on the chastity of the Irish peasants, and even the hostile ones -have marvelled at the complete absence of immorality among them. But -what is that to the Irish National (?) dramatists? - -It is plain to be seen the self-styled Irish writers affect the -present-day style in vogue among French writers. We have seen the -result of all this as far as France is concerned. To-day that once -proud nation is in a pitiable condition. And so the Abbey crowd would -bring about the same undesirable conditions in Ireland if they could. -By clever innuendo they would take all the splendid ideals and noble -traditions away from the Irish and leave them with nothing high or -holy to cling to. But the Abbey butchers will not succeed. They are -reckoning without their host. The Irish character is too strong and -too noble to be slain by such unworthy methods. - -The plays taken as a whole have no literary merit. The backers -of the plays preach about Art with a capital A, but they have no -artistic merit, for art is truth, and the plays are not true. The -great majority of the plays are made up of nothing more than a lot -of “handy gab.” You can hear the same any day, in any large city in -Ireland, indulged in by a lot of “pot boys,” or “corner boys,” as -they are sometimes called. (May I be permitted to use the American -vulgarism, “can-rusher,” to illustrate what is meant by “corner -boy?”) Nor is the conversation much more edifying than would be -indulged in by those doubtful denizens. - -With this dangerous enemy striking at the very strands of our life -and from such a dangerous source, the necessity is greater than -ever for the men and women of our beloved society to be earnest and -honest in their efforts for the revival of Irish ideals. Brothers and -Sisters everywhere, place a little history of Ireland in the hand of -each little boy and little girl of the ancient race, and all the Lady -Gregories in the world will not be able to destroy an atom of our -splendid heritage. - - - - -APPENDIX V - -IN THE EYES OF OUR FRIENDS - - -From “THE OUTLOOK,” December 16, 1911 - -THE IRISH THEATRE - -BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT - -In the Abbey Theatre Lady Gregory and those associated with her--and -Americans should feel proud of the fact that an American was one -of the first to give her encouragement and aid--have not only made -an extraordinary contribution to the sum of Irish literary and -artistic achievement, but have done more for the drama than has -been accomplished in any other nation of recent years. England, -Australia South Africa, Hungary, and Germany are all now seeking to -profit by this unique achievement. The Abbey Theatre is one of the -healthiest signs of the revival of the ancient Irish spirit which -has been so marked a feature of the world’s progress during the -present generation; and, like every healthy movement of the kind, -it has been thoroughly national and has developed on its own lines, -refusing merely to copy what has been outworn. It is especially -noteworthy, and is a proof of the general Irish awakening, that -this vigorous expression of Irish life, so honourable to the Irish -people, should represent the combined work of so many different -persons, and not that of only one person, whose activity might be -merely sporadic and fortuitous. Incidentally Lady Gregory teaches -a lesson to us Americans, if we only have the wit to learn it. The -Irish plays are of such importance because they spring from the -soil and deal with Irish things, the familiar home things which the -writers really knew. They are not English or French; they are Irish. -In exactly the same way, any work of the kind done here, which is -really worth doing, will be done by Americans who deal with the -American life with which they are familiar; and the American who -works abroad as a make-believe Englishman or Frenchman or German--or -Irishman--will never add to the sum of first-class achievement. This -will not lessen the broad human element in the work; it will increase -it. These Irish plays appeal now to all mankind as they would never -appeal if they had attempted to be flaccidly “cosmopolitan”; they -are vital and human, and therefore appeal to all humanity, just -because those who wrote them wrote from the heart about their own -people and their own feelings, their own good and bad traits, their -own vital national interests and traditions and history. Tolstoy -wrote for mankind; but he wrote as a Russian about Russians, and if -he had not done so he would have accomplished nothing. Our American -writers, artists, dramatists, must all learn the same lesson until -it becomes instinctive with them, and with the American public. -The right feeling can be manifested in big things as well as in -little, and it must become part of our inmost National life before -we can add materially to the sum of world achievement. When that day -comes, we shall understand why a huge ornate Italian villa or French -château or make-believe castle, or, in short, any mere inappropriate -copy of some building somewhere else, is a ridiculous feature in -an American landscape, whereas many American farm-houses, and some -American big houses, fit into the landscape and add to it; we shall -use statues of such a typical American beast as the bison--which -peculiarly lends itself to the purpose--to flank the approach to a -building like the New York Library, instead of placing there, in the -worst possible taste, a couple of lions which suggest a caricature -of Trafalgar Square; we shall understand what a great artist like -Saint-Gaudens did for our coinage, and why he gave to the head of the -American Liberty the noble and decorative eagle plume head-dress of -an American horse-Indian, instead of adopting, in servile style, the -conventional and utterly inappropriate Phrygian cap. - - -MARY BOYLE O’REILLY IN THE BOSTON “SUNDAY POST” - -October 8, 1911;--In two shorts weeks the Irish Players have done -great and lasting service to every lover of Synge’s Irish in Boston; -a service long to be held in grateful memory, a creative force -of other good to come. Very gravely and conscientiously, Lady -Gregory and Mr. William Butler Yeats have trained their players to -interpret to the children of Irish emigrants the brave and beautiful -and touching memories which, through the ignorance of the second -generation, have ceased to be cause for gratitude or pride. - -Not this alone: by their fine art, the players have dealt a death -blow to the coarse and stupid burlesque of the traditional stage -Irishman, who has, for years, outraged every man and woman of Celtic -ancestry by gorilla-like buffoonery and grotesque attempts at brogue. - -... Boston owes Lady Gregory and Mr. Yeats and their company not only -grateful thanks, but a very humble apology. - - -From “THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL” - -October 26, 1912:--It is time the Dublin public pulled itself -together and began to take a pride in its National Theatre, this -theatre which has produced in a few years more than a hundred plays -and a company of players recognised as true artists, not only by -their fellow-countrymen, but by the critics of England and America. -The Abbey Theatre has made it possible for a writer living in Ireland -and writing on Irish subjects to win a position of equal dignity with -his fellow-artist in London or Paris; it has made it possible for an -Irish man or woman with acting ability to play in the plays of their -fellow-countrymen, and to earn a decent living and win a position of -equal respect with any English or Continental actor. - - -From NEW YORK “JOURNAL” - -December 18, 1911:--The hysterics and rowdyism that attended the -opening of the Irish plays in New York having died away, listen to a -few facts concerning the extremely interesting and valuable work of -Lady Gregory and her associates, the Irish playwrights and actors. - -Some of those entirely ignorant of that which they discussed thought -that the Irish players were wilfully irreligious, and others equally -ignorant thought that they were weakly lacking in Irish patriotism. - -As a matter of fact, the Irish playwrights and actors ... are -thoroughly imbued with the Irish spirit and are trying as well as -they can to present certain Irish conditions and characters as they -are, utilising literature and the drama as mediums. - -... It was thought by some good people who had not seen the plays -that they were irreligious in character and showed lack of respect -especially for the Catholic faith. But this is not true. - -In the play called _Mixed Marriage_ all the bigotry and religious -stupidity is shown by the old Protestant father. The unselfishness, -real patriotism, courage, and broad-minded humanity in this play are -the possessions of the Catholics--as is, indeed, usually the case in -Ireland. - -It is interesting to observe how real merit wins and overcomes -ignorant prejudice. - -Many of the very men that hissed and hooted at the Irish plays on -the first night without listening to them now attend the performances -regularly. - -Those that enjoy most thoroughly the wonderful wit and pathos of the -Irish race, as shown in these plays, are those Irish men and women. - -Sara Allgood, as the old patient wife and mother in _Mixed Marriage_, -is a perfect picture of the womanhood that has created Ireland. - -Lady Gregory and her friends have rendered a real service to this -country and to Ireland by bringing the plays here. - - -ANONYMOUS IN CHICAGO “DAILY TRIBUNE” - -February, 1912 - -TO LADY GREGORY - - Long be it e’er to its last anchorage - Thy oaken keel, O “Fighting Temeraire,” - Shall forth beyond the busy harbour fare. - Still mayest thou the battle royal wage - To show a people to itself; to gauge - The depth and quality peculiar there; - Of its humanity to catch the air - And croon its plaintiveness upon the stage. - - Nay, great and simple seer of Erin’s seers, - How we rejoice that thou wouldst not remain - Beside thy hearth, bemoaning useless years, - But hear’st with inner ear the rhythmic strain - Of Ireland’s mystic overburdened heart - Nor didst refuse to play thy noble part! - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE - - Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been - corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within - the text and consultation of external sources. - - Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, - and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. - - List of Illustrations: Added entry for ‘Threatening Letter’. - Pg 29: ‘been see in’ replaced by ‘been seen in’. - Pg 37: ‘a for whole’ replaced by ‘for a whole’. - Pg 37: ‘Kathleen in Houlihan’ replaced by ‘Kathleen ni Houlihan’. - Pg 62: ‘fifteen year of’ replaced by ‘fifteen years of’. - Pg 174: ‘perhaps a litte’ replaced by ‘perhaps a little’. - Pg 176: ‘tell me he cook’ replaced by ‘tell me the cook’. - Appendix V: the header line ‘From “THE OUTLOOK,” ... ’ has been - swapped with the next line ‘IN THE EYES ... ’. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR IRISH THEATRE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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