The Ji-jaller Bag

In the days before the steam engine, and the times before the coal mines cut scars across the North Country, there were pretty villages scattered all around the outskirts of Newcastle.

In one of these villages, long long ago, there lived an old hag who was a thief and had robbed the villagers for years. No one could prove that she was responsible for the thefts, but they were fairly sure. In the end, the woman grew too old to rob her neighbours and stopped her thieving way of life. Often, as she felt she could no longer manage herself, she would hire a housemaid to do her cleaning and dusting for her. It was always one of the village girls and they were always paid out of the money that had been stolen.

Each time she hired a girl, before they started work, she would tell them, "Clean everywhere except the chimney. If you poke about up there all the soot will fall and we'll have a fine mess to be sure!"

Usually the girls did just as they were instructed, leaving the chimney alone and cleaning everywhere else. One girl, however, wondered why the woman had bothered to mention this in the first place, for housemaids did not clean chimneys anyway as the sweep was always called in to do that job. She suspected that the stolen money must be hidden there!

That evening, as she was about to finish and go home, the girl noticed that the woman was fast asleep in her favourite chair so she crept across the kitchen to the fireplace and poked the end of her broom up into the dark flue. Down dropped a bag! The girl did not stop to look inside, but quickly turned toward the door and ran outside leaving the old woman still sleeping in her chair.

As the girl ran along the way, she came to a gate. To her surprise the gate spoke and said to her:

"Pretty maid, oh pretty maid
Open me I pray,
For I've not been open
For many a long day!"

The girl looked at the gate and then over her shoulder for the old woman, and said,
"Open yourself gate, I have no time."

Then she turned and kept on going. Soon she met a cow standing to one side of the path, and the cow too spoke to the girl:

"Pretty maid, oh pretty maid
Milk me I pray,
For I've not been milked
For many a long day!"

The girl looked at the cow and then over her shoulder for the old woman, and said,
"Milk yourself cow, I have no time."

Then she turned and kept on going. Soon she came to a mill, and the mill too spoke to the girl:

"Pretty maid, oh pretty maid
Turn me I pray,
For I've not been turned
For many a long day!"

The girl looked at the mill and then over her shoulder for the old woman, and said,
"Turn yourself mill, I have no time."

Then she turned and kept on going. Meanwhile the old woman had woken up to find a pile of soot on the floor of the kitchen and her money gone.

"My ji-jaller bag! My wee leather bag!" she cried. Then she grabbed her shawl from the chair and hurried after the girl. Soon she came to the gate.

"Gate o' mine, gate so fine,
Have you seen that girl o' mine
Wi' a ji-jaller bag
And a wee leather bag
Wi' all the money in it
That I ever had?"

And the gate said "Farther on ..." The the old woman walked along until she met the cow.

"Cow o' mine, cow so fine,
Have you seen that girl o' mine
Wi' a ji-jaller bag
And a wee leather bag
Wi' all the money in it
That I ever had?"

And the cow said "Farther on ..." The the old woman walked along until she met the mill.

"Mill o' mine, mill so fine,
Have you seen that girl o' mine
Wi' a ji-jaller bag
And a wee leather bag
Wi' all the money in it
That I ever had?"

And the mill said "In the hopper!" So the old woman walked around the back of the mill, opened the hopper and found the girl and beat her soundly. The very next day she hired a new girl to do the housework, and once again told her not to clean the chimney. Well, the new girl had already heard that the last housemaid found the stolen money up the chimney, so as soon as the old woman fell asleep she took the bag down and ran off with it. This time when the girl came to the gate, she opened it. When she came to the cow, she milked it, and when she came to the mill, she turned it. Then she ran off down the hill to the village. When the old woman woke up she set off after the girl, but when she asked her gate if it had seen the girl, the gate said nothing. When she asked the cow if it had seen the girl, the cow said nothing. And when she asked the mill if it had seen the girl, the mill said nothing. So the girl escaped with the money and the people of the village shared it out.