“I really think,” he continued, “that the time is ripe for a return to some kind of crusade. They used to have musical evenings away back you know and they’d have young women going round with temperance beverages and cream buns and pastry and the like. Tell me, did you ever hear of the blue ribbon badge?”
I looked straight ahead while he told me about its origins. It was created, he said, by a man called Francis Murphy who took a verse from the Bible as his inspiration. “I can’t remember the exact wording,” he said, “but I think it went something along the lines of ‘Speak to the children of Israel and bid them wear a riband of blue as an outward sign of their moderation.’ ”
“I wonder would he be anything to the Frank Murphy from Buncrana that played for Derry City?” asked Seamus.
“Your man Murphy that played on the left wing you mean?” queried Jim. “Sure he wasn’t Frank. He was Stan was he not?”
“It’s actually the first instance of the pledge being taken, back around the turn of the century, and it was the only known predecessor of the pioneer pin.”
“Aw Jesus, was it that long ago?” said Seamus. “Well it couldn’t have been Frank Murphy then.”
“Stan,” corrected Jim. “Or wait a minute. I tell a lie. I’m thinking of Stan Murphy played the snooker down in the Ancient Order of Hibernians.” He waved an arm in the air. “But sure it doesn’t matter two damns anyway. The boy your man’s on about lived away back.”
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The Wake - Table of contents
HumorTHE YEAR is 1968 and the Swinging Sixties are still swinging - though not in Ireland. But wait! An old woman dies in a northern Irish town and her wake becomes a rendezvous for lesbians, bisexuals and political revolutionaries. And in there among t...
