Chapter Four
'The Widow Waterford'
Having agreed to become the Secretary to two opposing clubs, Magnus had severely risked compromising his respected position in the community due to a clear conflict of interest possibly prevailing. He realised that he would need to tread a careful line in discharging the dual roles and functions he'd undertaken and that despite being a good Roman Catholic, he would need to preserve his impartiality at all times whenever he interacted on behalf of both organizations in communication with himself! He was in effect, a man wearing many hats. Consequently, he found himself having to couch his thinking, language and points of persuasion in both Catholic and non-Catholic terms during the execution of all his secretarial functions.
Summer turned to autumn and when September arrived, Elizabeth had started to show that she was carrying extra weight in her tummy area. Elizabeth was a good-looking woman for her years, and given her age, plus the fact that she'd given birth to eleven at one go thirty seven years earlier, none of the Portlaw citizens focused unduly on any additional weight that she now seemed to be carrying around her mid-drift. If it did happen to be noticed, it was simply put down to middle-to-old-age spread and the summer consumption of too many spuds. Although a recent scan had revealed to Elizabeth that she was expecting twins, she decided not to tell Magnus of this multiple birth yet. She knew that if she told her husband now, it would only alarm him during the remainder of her pregnancy and she feared that he might seek to talk her out of it. Elizabeth realised that at her age, the risk of something going wrong to a 60-year-old woman delivering twins was exceedingly high. The couple had stretched the bounds of their faith almost forty years earlier when they went outside the church to seek fertilisation treatment. Believing to have been duly forgiven by the church for that sin, Elizabeth didn't want to risk her husband pressing for an abortion in fear of his wife's well-being being placed in too great a threat to her own health.
Up in Curraghmore, where Elizabeth and Magnus frequently walked was rumoured to live an old witch of the woods. This old woman had always been spoken of in whispers for most of Elizabeth's life, yet nobody knew her name, where she came from or why she was there!
Widow Waterford was the name that this old woman of Curraghmore called herself. To the Portlaw community, she'd always remained a woman shrouded in a veil of mystery and superstition. For over fifty years she
Shallow men believe in luck while more sensible men believe in cause and effect.
My favourite quote : The greatest treason is to do the right deed for the wrong reason; an illustration where the consequence seems to trump intent.e.'
Widow Waterford was the name that this old woman of Curraghmore called herself. To the Portlaw community, she'd always remained a woman shrouded in a veil of mystery and superstition. For over fifty years she
Shallow men believe in luck while more sensible men believe in cause and effect.
My favourite quote : The greatest treason is to do the right deed for the wrong reason; an illustration where the consequence seems to trump intent.e.'
Very few people ever laid claim to have spoken with her, although many had reported sightings of her walking across Curraghmore accompanied by some wild creature walking at her side, especially in the fog. When the fog descended over Curraghmore, as it often did, it made this idyllic spot too dangerous a terrain to walk upon. One minute the sky would be clear and the next, the fog would be as thick as pea-green soup. Try to walk blindly through it and there was every possibility of the unwary traveller walking into the river's eddy and drowning. The thick fog over Curraghmore was an atmospheric climate which the old woman was rumoured to favour above all other climates, because it was said that in such obscurity, only she who knew every inch of the terrain could clearly know where she was at any given moment!
Elizabeth and Magnus had naturally heard tales about 'The old woman of Curraghmore'. They knew of nobody in Portlaw who had ever spoken to her and never imagined that they ever would either. Little did the couple believe that this would be remedied before autumn had come and gone.
As is often the domain of wild rumour and folklore superstition, any reported sightings of the old woman in the descending fog would invariably lead to her being described as a wicked witch if the teller of the grizzly tale was being charitable, or more often than not, as a ghost or the Devil's disciple. However the old woman would be depicted, she would usually be said to have been accompanied by a devil wolf with deadly fangs who could sniff out the goodness in any traveller from a hundred metres before tearing open their throat and ripping their heart from their body!
As is often the domain of wild rumour and folklore superstition, any reported sightings of the old woman in the descending fog would invariably lead to her being described as a wicked witch if the teller of the grizzly tale was being charitable, or more often than not, as a ghost or the Devil's disciple. However the old woman would be depicted, she would usually be said to have been accompanied by a devil wolf with deadly fangs who could sniff out the goodness in any traveller from a hundred metres before tearing open their throat and ripping their heart from their body!
It happened one day in early September when the warm sun in the sky and the prospect of fine weather led Elizabeth and Magnus to take one of their country walks up Curraghmore. The couple knew that before long, Elizabeth would be too far advanced in her pregnancy to walk out, so they decided to grab the opportunity now, while they still could.
The couple had spent two hours gently walking and had passed some cottages on Curraghmore, which they had often said they would love to live. Then they caught sight of the big house across the water when all of a sudden the clear skies rapidly changed and a fog descended upon them. Within a matter of ten minutes the fog got so thick that they could hardly see each other. Magnus told Elizabeth to hold on to his hand and under no circumstances was she to let go. He tried to sound reassuring in his utterances to his pregnant wife that they would be okay and would come to no harm. After about another ten minutes of walking blindly, they decided it was safer to stand still and pray that the fog would soon lift. Magnus knew that the fog over Curraghmore had often been known to hang thick for many hours before clearing and he feared for his wife's health if it persisted too long.
The couple had spent two hours gently walking and had passed some cottages on Curraghmore, which they had often said they would love to live. Then they caught sight of the big house across the water when all of a sudden the clear skies rapidly changed and a fog descended upon them. Within a matter of ten minutes the fog got so thick that they could hardly see each other. Magnus told Elizabeth to hold on to his hand and under no circumstances was she to let go. He tried to sound reassuring in his utterances to his pregnant wife that they would be okay and would come to no harm. After about another ten minutes of walking blindly, they decided it was safer to stand still and pray that the fog would soon lift. Magnus knew that the fog over Curraghmore had often been known to hang thick for many hours before clearing and he feared for his wife's health if it persisted too long.
So Magnus knelt down in the grass to pray and invited his wife to join him. As Elizabeth knelt down on the grass, Magnus led the couple in prayer.
"Dear God, take us into the comfort of thy bosom and lead us safely from this place. Let no harm befall us, but most of all, if only one of us can safely return, please let it be Elizabeth and our unborn child she carries within. Amen."
"Dear God, take us into the comfort of thy bosom and lead us safely from this place. Let no harm befall us, but most of all, if only one of us can safely return, please let it be Elizabeth and our unborn child she carries within. Amen."
Just as their prayer had ended, the couple heard a noise in the grass and sensed some moving creature approach them. At first they feared that it might be the legendary wolf of Curraghmore, a wild creature in Portlaw folklore that roamed the area of Lord Waterford's lands in search of its wounded mate who'd been shot by an English hunter. It was said by the Portlaw spreaders of superstition that any person the wolf ever crossed who hadn't been born within the old town boundaries of Portlaw itself would have their heart ripped out and would be instantly dispatched.
Magnus and Elizabeth then saw that the shape to approach them in the fog was that of a human accompanied by a husky type of dog. The dog was the first to come into view followed immediately by the old woman. The dog reacted friendly, not at all like the monstrous werewolf it was said to be.
The old woman was in her later years and was small in stature and broad in back. She was dressed in an old cardigan and pink-coloured shawl which was marked with wear and heavily dirty. She wore a gentle and inviting smile. The woman assertively said to Elizabeth, 'Hold my hand if you want to get out of here and get your man to hold fast to you. Do not let go. These fogs on Curraghmore are meant to be dangerous to the traveller for they are a curse upon the Marquis and his family in the big house beyond."
The threesome walked slowly for about fifteen minutes through the thick fog in which neither Magnus or Elizabeth could see each other nor where they were going. They placed their trust in the older woman who led them as she followed her dog. A quarter of an hour later they finished up inside a dwelling of some description which had a roof of thatched branches and twigs. The outside of the dwelling had been constructed in thatch and wood around an already built dwelling of stone; no doubt to disguise it in some measure. In one corner of the round dwelling was some old tools, which seemed to have been used in the last century. The old woman stopped as she stood to light a candle and illuminate the dwelling. As the candle lit up the inside of the humble dwelling, Magnus and Elizabeth saw the old woman more clearly. She had a low hair line and her hair was fully grey in appearance. Her head seemed to be perched on the top of a webbed neck and her ears were low set. Her face looked to be well lived in and she had long ago lost a number of her front teeth to the ravages of poor diet.
The dwelling was small. It was fitted and adorned in modesty and consisted of only those very basic requirements that a humble person might need in order to exist; a few pots, a kettle, a makeshift fire and one old rocking chair that had once been repaired. The only sign of the old woman's sleeping quarters consisted of a corner that contained a make-shift bed that had been fashioned out of plaited twigs and reeds that formed a mattress to keep the sleeper's back off the soiled ground sheet. The bed area was covered in a worn-out blanket that had once been highly coloured and patterned with a motif at its centre. Magnus momentarily thought the motif to represent the heraldic emblem of Lord Waterford. When Elizabeth looked outside one of port holes that doubled for a window, while the fog was still thick all around Curraghmore, it had started to rise immediately above the old woman's round house, as though nature had started to pull back the covering bed sheets to reveal all beneath. It felt distinctly eerie.
Overall the round house was as tidy as it was sparse inside and after the old woman had removed her shawl to reveal a fine head of grey hair, she sat down in the only chair. Her dog stood guard outside the dwelling.
"You can stay here until the fog lifts, "she said, "There is nothing to be gained by the four of you risking your safety."
Elizabeth did wonder why the old woman should instinctively sense that she was pregnant with twins when all others who knew her, hadn't. Magnus couldn't understand the reference to 'four of them' and simply thought he'd either misheard the old woman's comments or that she'd simply muddled her words.
"Who have we to thank for leading us here safely?" Magnus asked the old woman.
The old woman said, "Now, that would depend upon whether it was the Lord who answered as you both knelt in prayer or whether I just happened to be passing with my dog, 'Lady' and bumped into you. Who I am has been a matter of dispute for as long as I am old in years, but you may address me as the Widow Waterford."
"That's a fair grand name you be calling yourself then, Widow Waterford, especially from round these parts," Magnus replied, in an attempt to seem friendly and positively responsive to the old woman's hospitality. "
Aye, that it may be, my man. Yet, though Waterford be my name in truth, I'd imagine they'd be some around here begrudge me owning it!" the old woman said.
Over the next forty minutes that it took the fog to clear, the old woman told Magnus and Elizabeth the kernel of her story and how she came to her present position, living in the heart of Curraghmore.
"You can stay here until the fog lifts, "she said, "There is nothing to be gained by the four of you risking your safety."
Elizabeth did wonder why the old woman should instinctively sense that she was pregnant with twins when all others who knew her, hadn't. Magnus couldn't understand the reference to 'four of them' and simply thought he'd either misheard the old woman's comments or that she'd simply muddled her words.
"Who have we to thank for leading us here safely?" Magnus asked the old woman.
The old woman said, "Now, that would depend upon whether it was the Lord who answered as you both knelt in prayer or whether I just happened to be passing with my dog, 'Lady' and bumped into you. Who I am has been a matter of dispute for as long as I am old in years, but you may address me as the Widow Waterford."
"That's a fair grand name you be calling yourself then, Widow Waterford, especially from round these parts," Magnus replied, in an attempt to seem friendly and positively responsive to the old woman's hospitality. "
Aye, that it may be, my man. Yet, though Waterford be my name in truth, I'd imagine they'd be some around here begrudge me owning it!" the old woman said.
Over the next forty minutes that it took the fog to clear, the old woman told Magnus and Elizabeth the kernel of her story and how she came to her present position, living in the heart of Curraghmore.
She claimed to have been a direct descendant of the Beresford family from Tristram, Beresford. The family originated in Kent, but by the 17th century they had settled in Ireland. Tristram Beresford was a member of the Irish House of Commons and in 1665, he was created Baronet of Coleraine in the Northern County of Londonderry. In 1720, the Fourth Baronet was raised in the Peerage of Ireland as the Baron Beresford of Beresford in the County of Cavan and he was also made Viscount Tyrone, then later created Earl of Tyrone in 1746. He was succeeded by his fourth and eldest surviving son, who in 1789 was made the Marquis of Waterford. The family titles descended in direct line until the third Marquis of Waterford died in 1859. And so on......until the 8th Marquis of Waterford succeeded to the title and its lands in 1934 at the age of one-year-old on the early death of his father.
"My great grandfather was the illegitimate son to a former Marquis of Waterford and it is that fact which leads me to lay claim to my common title of Waterford. Please note, 'Widow Waterford' is all the title I grant myself and not 'Lady' or 'Baroness Waterford'. Plain Widow Waterford is good enough for me. And in case you think it so, let me tell you that I have never married nor given birth to any child despite my title. Even had I not been sterile, it would have been cruelty itself to have brought a child of mine into this world to live in abject poverty, knowing as they struggled for survival, they ought to have been sat at their rightful table in Waterford House yonder. My great grandfather, grandfather and father before me did curse the House of Curraghmore and I have continued to curse it every night and day since my dear father's death. It is my only purpose remaining in life that I remain constantly in its shadows to remind them of my presence and their murky past."
Close to the chair where the old woman sat was a faded coat of arms; presumably the Waterford House coat of arms.
Close to the chair where the old woman sat was a faded coat of arms; presumably the Waterford House coat of arms.
"But.... has there never been ......... you know..........has there never been another in your life? A mother, surely or perhaps a man?" Magnus boldly asked.
The suddenness of the question, which Magnus had asked the old woman, momentarily unsettled her. She considered a moment before she retrieved three old photographs from an old chest nearby and handing them to Magnus to look at.
"Here are the only images I possess of the father who adopted me, my mother in her pregnancy with me and myself as I grew up. Whatever our circumstances, whatever tragedies befall us, nobody is destined to travel through life without ever having had a mother who gave birth to them or never to have loved another more than themselves. Even I have not been spared that particular heart ache that all lost love between a man and a woman produces," the old woman said. "My mother died in childbirth when I was born and my adopted father raised me until he passed away with blood poisoning when I was aged fifteen and barely able to fend for myself. It was he who gave me my name of Bess Beresford, after the name of my dear mother. I never had the love of brothers or sisters and only once in my life have I known the love of a man."
The suddenness of the question, which Magnus had asked the old woman, momentarily unsettled her. She considered a moment before she retrieved three old photographs from an old chest nearby and handing them to Magnus to look at.
"Here are the only images I possess of the father who adopted me, my mother in her pregnancy with me and myself as I grew up. Whatever our circumstances, whatever tragedies befall us, nobody is destined to travel through life without ever having had a mother who gave birth to them or never to have loved another more than themselves. Even I have not been spared that particular heart ache that all lost love between a man and a woman produces," the old woman said. "My mother died in childbirth when I was born and my adopted father raised me until he passed away with blood poisoning when I was aged fifteen and barely able to fend for myself. It was he who gave me my name of Bess Beresford, after the name of my dear mother. I never had the love of brothers or sisters and only once in my life have I known the love of a man."
The old woman then spoke of a relationship she had fifty years earlier; a relationship filled with love and promise had fate decreed it to have been otherwise. She told them that there had been a man from County Tyrone who had set her heart alight with the fever of a sweetheart's passion. He had wanted to marry her and have a family with her, and though she loved him greatly and would dearly have wished to wed, she felt that there would have always been a part of herself which she couldn't give him; a child which he dearly wanted. The old lady said that she had been medically diagnosed with Turner's syndrome as a young woman. She indicated that this was a condition which produced certain physical features of the face and body and because it produces a chromosomal abnormality, it invariably leads to sterility in the woman, making her unable to conceive.
Magnus and Elizabeth could sense the pain in the old woman's voice as she spoke about her decision to end her relationship with a Tom O'Conner from County Tyrone. They could sense from the sadness in her voice and despite the passing of fifty years, that she still hadn't lost the love she'd held for him all those years earlier. After she and Tom had ended their relationship, he is believed to have emigrated to either America or Australia heart-broken. She decided that it was her destiny to live out the rest of her days on her own land in Curraghmore where both her adopted father and mother now lay side-by-side in a secret grave. Her father had dug a secret grave for his deceased wife and had buried her wrapped tightly in some old sacking encircling her body. When her father died, the 15-year-old orphan unearthed her mother's grave plot and buried her adopted father beside his wife with each wrapped body bag facing each other.
Magnus and Elizabeth could sense the pain in the old woman's voice as she spoke about her decision to end her relationship with a Tom O'Conner from County Tyrone. They could sense from the sadness in her voice and despite the passing of fifty years, that she still hadn't lost the love she'd held for him all those years earlier. After she and Tom had ended their relationship, he is believed to have emigrated to either America or Australia heart-broken. She decided that it was her destiny to live out the rest of her days on her own land in Curraghmore where both her adopted father and mother now lay side-by-side in a secret grave. Her father had dug a secret grave for his deceased wife and had buried her wrapped tightly in some old sacking encircling her body. When her father died, the 15-year-old orphan unearthed her mother's grave plot and buried her adopted father beside his wife with each wrapped body bag facing each other.
After telling them her tale of a love that was never to be, the old woman offered to take them back to where she'd found them, but asked that they'd allow her to blindfold them beforehand as her dwelling had not been discovered in all the time she'd lived there. Although the strangest of requests, because they felt beholden to the old woman, neither Magnus nor Elizabeth objected and allowed her to blindfold them both and lead them back across Curraghmore. Around fifteen minutes later of careful walking, the couple sensed that they were alone once more and that the time was ripe to remove their blindfolds. When they took off their blindfolds the old woman was nowhere to be seen. Rather than to be thought foolish or gossiped about, they decided to keep their contact with the Widow Waterford that day and the story she had told them to themselves.
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