Westport Friends Meeting

A special Christmas memory - The Innkeeper's Wife's Tale

At each Christmas Eve service for many years
Jean Kennison recited the following story to us,
by heart:

The Innkeeper’s Wife’s Tale

by Jo Vellacott

(reprinted by permission, Friends Journal, December, 1988)

The way men tell it
You’d never know we were there at all—
Except Mary, and they could hardly do without her.
But who ever heard of a birth with no women present?
And a joyous birth at that.

I only came to help at the last minute,
Bringing water and cloths.
I had grumbled at the arrival of Joseph and Mary,
Over-busy as I was at the time of taxation.
But I had made space for them in the stable.
How could I have turned away that young woman,
So near her time and looking so tired from her travel?
A half hour later the young husband came in to say
They had only just settled in in time
And now Mary was really in labour.

I sent my little Sarah for old Miriam
To come from next door to help.
Then Sara begged to be let stay
And Miriam said she’d be glad of the young legs
If the child would act sensible and do a bit
Of fetching and carrying if it was needed.
It wouldn’t hurt anyway
To have the child there
To keep the beasts from getting in the way—
Uncommon interested, they seemed.
Busy or not, I charged Sarah to fetch me
When the birth was near.
No matter whether I was still cleaning up
Or had dropped on my bed exhausted
I found I didn’t want to miss the birth
And they’d surely be glad of the extra hands.
It wasn’t going to be too convenient there in the stable.
Though with all those noisy people crowding the inn
I wasn’t surprised the woman Mary
Had seemed to welcome
The peace and quiet of the stable.

So that’s how it was
Miriam holding Mary’s hand much of the time
Talking softly to her about what was happening
Helping her up when that was what was needed.
That Joseph, he was there too all the time
Seemed like a caring man—
He and Mary both relieved to have Miriam there.
The labour went quietly, most of the time
With Mary getting on with her work,
The stable not too cold, with the warmth of the animals.
Sarah took a catnap or two, but
There was the feeling of excitement
That always attends a birth.
She came wide awake and ungrumbling
Whenever she was needed.

I went out when I’d at last finished the chores
Just to see how things were going.
A lovely bright starlit night it was
Cold and quiet
And one star outshining all others
So close
It might have been just over the roof.

I went in then to catch some sleep.
Two hours later I was woken by Sarah’s shake
And her excited whisper.
Tired as I’d been when I’d lain down
I was at once awake and almost as excited as Sarah
Though birth was nothing new to me, heaven knows,
Whether it was human birth or the birth of a beast.

We three women then were there
(For little Sarah seemed a woman after that night)
And Joseph, and Mary herself, and the animals.
Mary did her part well and it all went fine
At the end. And it was a boy
(Sarah was a bit disappointed for a minute or two).
When Mary had held him for a bit and was ready to rest
We put him in the manger,
Sarah had made it look like a proper little baby basket
And comfortable with plenty of clean straw.

After helping clean up
I went back into the inn
But not to bed. Some of the travellers
Were already stirring, though it was still dark
Or as dark as it got on that starlit night.
Miriam helped Mary take the babe to the breast
Then she went home to sleep.
Sara, eyes shining,
Said she would stay on if Mary and Joseph didn’t mind.
She could bring the baby to Mary where she slept
If he woke.
Joseph was pleased enough.
It had been a hard night for him too
After their long journey.
Sarah told me that Mary
Just smiled at her.

The events of the ngiht weren’t over either.
Sarah came running in to say
There were shepherds come down from the hills
Going on about angels
And wanting to see the baby
(And how did they know about the birth?)
A day or two later there were tall serious men
From the East
Bringing such strange and expensive gifts
Not like bits of food and a small blanket or two
That the women round about had given
When they heard how little Mary had been able
To bring with her for the babe.

In a few days’ time
They were ready to leave, and leave they did.

There were other births after and deaths too.
Was this an ordinary birth or was it something special?
Miriam and I and young Sarah
Kept these things in our hearts
Talked about them sometimes
Remembering Mary and her baby
Wondering what became of them.