Patrick didn’t really mind the calf-length petticoats so much, although the boys DID tease him when and if they passed the house and saw his plight; along with the pantaloons, they felt nice against his legs. It was the stays that really bothered him. Not only were they tight, but also they prevented him from doing most activities of boys of his age – he could never catch his breath! And if he COULD play that way, well, he wouldn’t want to expose himself to the other boys’ ridicule and teasing. Furthermore, if he mussed his frock, or even his pinafore, well, it would mean even more punishment.
The Ryan family matriarch was well known for her methods of her handling unruly grandsons and great-grandsons. She expected them to grow up as “gentle-men.” Lacing them into stays prevented them from getting into trouble – but the rest of the dress was punitive: Whenever a Ryan boy got into trouble, well, it meant dressing in an older sister’s outgrown clothes for one full week. An eternity of humiliation, in boys’ time! During that period, the wrongdoer stayed home and did his studies there, making up schoolwork the following week – that was a punishment as well.
But it wasn’t just the dressing that bothered him: It was also having to permit all of his sisters to dress him every day. And doing female chores with them. Furthermore, if he did not do them right, his skirts were pulled up and he was put over Gram’s knee and spanked, in front of all the children.
This was Patrick’s third time in such straits. Try as he might, he was always in trouble (boy will be boys!). Some of the boys DID “learn their lesson” after one such bout; but Patrick was not one of them.