Lady Gregory ( March 15, 1852 to May 22, 1932) was a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival. Her study turned her from a scholarly Anglo Irish stance to one of deep interest in the Celtic life of the Irish poor. Her commitment grew so intense that she said she distrusted England. She studied the native language, collected folklore, wrote plays, and kept diaries. Her home at Coole Park, County Galway, became a center for many artists, such as Yeats. Following is an excerpt from her play The image: a play in three acts, (1910). The passage may well be based on Lady Gregory's own experience collecting Irish stories.
Coppinger. What are books .... put beside any person's mind? Come out here now, Peggy Mahon, and tell us what you can tell us, and what we are craving to know.
Hosty. You will get nothing at all out of that one, unless it might be cracked talk and foolishness.
(Peggy comes out and they all crowd around her. She has a cat in her arms, and sits down on the seat outside her door.
Mrs. Coppinger. Tell us out now Peggy, all you can tell, about one Hugh O'Lorrha.
Peggy. I am not in humour for talking and for foolishness. The cat that has my tea destroyed, that's all the newses I have. To put his paw in it he did, that I should throw it out of the door. There is no person would drink water or any mortal thing and a cat after touching it, for cats is queer, cats are the queerest things on the face of the globe.
Coppinger. Come on now, Peggy,....
Peggy. The day I wouldn't get my drop of tea I could keep nothing at all in my mind. What call had he to go meddle with it? There is something is not right in cats.
Hosty. Where's the use of questioning her? Giddy she is with age, and it's impossible to keep a head on her.
Mrs. Coppinger. Wait a second and I'll have her coaxed, bringing her out a cup of tea. (Goes into house.)
Coppinger. Tell us now, the same as you told Malachi Naughton, all that happened to Hugh O'Lorrha, and that gave him so great a name.
Coppinger. What are books .... put beside any person's mind? Come out here now, Peggy Mahon, and tell us what you can tell us, and what we are craving to know.
Hosty. You will get nothing at all out of that one, unless it might be cracked talk and foolishness.
(Peggy comes out and they all crowd around her. She has a cat in her arms, and sits down on the seat outside her door.
Mrs. Coppinger. Tell us out now Peggy, all you can tell, about one Hugh O'Lorrha.
Peggy. I am not in humour for talking and for foolishness. The cat that has my tea destroyed, that's all the newses I have. To put his paw in it he did, that I should throw it out of the door. There is no person would drink water or any mortal thing and a cat after touching it, for cats is queer, cats are the queerest things on the face of the globe.
Coppinger. Come on now, Peggy,....
Peggy. The day I wouldn't get my drop of tea I could keep nothing at all in my mind. What call had he to go meddle with it? There is something is not right in cats.
Hosty. Where's the use of questioning her? Giddy she is with age, and it's impossible to keep a head on her.
Mrs. Coppinger. Wait a second and I'll have her coaxed, bringing her out a cup of tea. (Goes into house.)
Coppinger. Tell us now, the same as you told Malachi Naughton, all that happened to Hugh O'Lorrha, and that gave him so great a name.
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