(She takes milk from the table and carries it to the door.)

Father hart.  That will be the child
That you would have it was no child at all.

Bridget.  And maybe, Father, what he said was true;
For there is not another night in the year
So wicked as to-night.

Maurteen.  Nothing can harm us
While the good Father’s underneath our roof.

Mary.  A little queer old woman dressed in green.

Bridget.  The good people beg for milk and fire
Upon May Eve—­woe to the house that gives,
For they have power upon it for a year.

Maurteen.  Hush, woman, hush!

Bridget.  She’s given milk away. 
I knew she would bring evil on the house.

Maurteen.  Who was it?

Mary.  Both the tongue and face were strange.

Maurteen.  Some strangers came last week to Clover Hill;
She must be one of them.

Bridget.  I am afraid.

Father hart.  The Cross will keep all evil from the house
While it hangs there.

Maurteen.  Come, sit beside me, colleen,
And put away your dreams of discontent,
For I would have you light up my last days,
Like the good glow of the turf; and when I die
You’ll be the wealthiest hereabout, for, colleen,
I have a stocking full of yellow guineas
Hidden away where nobody can find it.

Bridget.  You are the fool of every pretty face,
And I must spare and pinch that my son’s wife
May have all kinds of ribbons for her head.

Maurteen.  Do not be cross; she is a right good girl! 
The butter is by your elbow, Father Hart. 
My colleen, have not Fate and Time and Change
Done well for me and for old Bridget there? 
We have a hundred acres of good land,
And sit beside each other at the fire. 
I have this reverend Father for my friend,
I look upon your face and my son’s face—­
We’ve put his plate by yours—­and here he comes,
And brings with him the only thing we have lacked,
Abundance of good wine.

(Shawn comes in.)

Stir Up the fire,
And put new turf upon it till it blaze;
To watch the turf-smoke coiling from the fire,
And feel content and wisdom in your heart,
This is the best of life; when we are young
We long to tread a way none trod before,
But find the excellent old way through love,
And through the care of children, to the hour
For bidding Fate and Time and Change goodbye.

(Mary takes a sod of turf from the fire and goes out through the door.  Shawn follows her and meets her coming in.)

Shawn.  What is it draws you to the chill o’ the wood? 
There is a light among the stems of the trees
That makes one shiver.

Mary.  A little queer old man
Made me a sign to show he wanted fire
To light his pipe.