that stands up in a pub and insults the King and Queen of England,their
two lovely daughters and the Queen Mother herself. Insulting the
Queen Mother is going beyond the beyonds.What did she ever do to
anyone,that poor old lady? Time after time Malachy drinks away his rent
money and winds up sleeping in parks when the landlord throws him
out. Hes a regular disgrace, so he is, and Mr. Downes is glad McCourt
is not a Limerickman bringing shame to this ancient city.The magistrates
in Coventry are losing their patience and if Malachy McCourt doesnt
stop the bloody nonsense hell be kicked out of the country entirely.
Mam tells Bridey she doesnt know what shes going to do with
these stories from England, she never felt so desperate in her life. She
can see Kathleen OConnell doesnt want to give any more credit at the
shop and her own mother barks at her if she asks for the loan of a
shilling and the St.Vincent de Paul Society want to know when shell
stop asking for charity especially with a husband in England. Shes
ashamed of the way we look with the dirty old torn shirts, raggedy
ganseys, broken shoes, holes in our stockings. She lies awake at night
thinking the most merciful thing of all would be to put the four boys
in an orphanage so that she could go to England herself and find some
type of work where she could bring us all over in a year for the better
life. There might be bombs but shed prefer bombs anytime to the
shame of begging from this one and that one.
No, no matter what she cant bear the thought of putting us in the
orphanage.That might be all right if you had the likes of Boys Town
in America with a nice priest like Spencer Tracy but you could never
trust the Christian Brothers out in Glin who get their exercise beating
boys and starving the life out of them.
Mam says theres nothing left but the Dispensary and the public
assistance, the relief, and shes ashamed of her life to go and ask for it. It
means youre at the end of your rope and maybe one level above tin-
kers, knackers and street beggars in general. It means you have to crawl
before Mr. Coffey and Mr. Kane and thank God the Dispensary is at the
other end of Limerick so that people in our lane wont know were get-
ting the relief.
She knows from other women its wise to be there early in the
morning when Mr. Coffey and Mr. Kane might be in a good mood. If
you go late in the morning theyre liable to be cranky after seeing hun-
dreds of men women and children sick and asking for help.She will take
us with her to prove she has four children to feed. She gets us up early
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