Ah, not as powerful as yon mighty seams in yon dress, to keep yon belly off yon floor!
—Seamus McBundy.
Seamus McBundy was an ancestor of Al Bundy, who lived in the village of Lower Uncton in England and is originally believed to be the reason that the town has not seen any sunlight since 1653.
He is played by Ed O'Neill, who usually plays Al on the show.
Description[]
He is similar to Al Bundy in physical appearance, though most notably, he has shaggy hair that is greying in some spots along with mutton chops (thick sideburns) along the side of his face.
Like Al, he sells shoes (in this case, horseshoes for the hooves of horses) and is rude to fat women. He was a great athlete in his youth, and remarks that he would have gone pro had he not married.
Background[]
Seamus is first shown looking at a horseshoe that he just finished making at his shop. He is visited by local villager, Poxilda who demands to know if the horseshoes for her horse is ready. Much like his future descendant, Seamus decides to insult the portly lady, telling her that he had to order extra parts for weight support along with a sign to go around the horse's neck that reads "I'm with Fatso".
Taken back by his insults, she tells him to watch his tongue unless he wants to use it to pick at the flies around his sweaty armpits and to make haste with the horseshoes. He continues on to insult her for being a fat lady and offers her one of his ponies to snack on if she is in that much of a hurry.
Now visibly upset, Poxilda warns Seamus that she is a powerful witch, but he points out that she is not as powerful as the stitches in her clothing that keep her belly from falling out onto the floor. She eventually decides that she has had enough and sets out her curse:
and all thy male descendants
Henceforth, ye shall only shoe the large and ungrateful
So that ye and your male descendants will be hated in this place forever
Lower Uncton shall always be in darkness
Though other towns nearby stand in sun
Unmoved by her curse on him, he continues to mock her, believing that the only reason the town will be darkness is due to her floating up to block the sun's light with her fat body. She then adds on an additional curse: that he and all his descendent will also suffer from sweaty feet that will verily smell.
As she cackles and exits the shop, Seamus simply laughs off at her curse, noting that he was once a mighty athlete who "hurled the yon spooning stone in the big game" and how he could have gone pro if he had not married.
Suddenly the sky turns black, as Poxilda says that it has begun and cackles once again. Seamus simply believes that it is a bit early for the sky to be that dark and resumes his work.
Many years later, the people of Lower Uncton concoct a plan to kill the remaining descendants of Seamus McBundy, known as Al and Bud Bundy, in order to break the curse. Under the direction of the village historian, Winston McPhee and his lover, Igor who is also the great-great-great-great grandson of Poxilda, they trick the Bundys into believing that they won an all expenses paid trip to England. In reality, they plan to kill Al and Bud within the village in order to break the curse.
The neighboring village of Upper Uncton also wants to kill the Bundys, but their motive is to actually keep the curse in place and kill the Bundys outside of Lower Uncton. This would allow them to keep their distinction as being the nicer village next to the one covered in darkness.
Eventually the two villages come together and make a deal, allowing both villages to kill the descendants and make a nice profit. Igor then makes a request to be the one to fight and kill Al, as he demands vengeance for what Seamus did to his great-great-great-great-grandmother.
Al is able to break the curse by winning a "joust", of sorts (where he's decked out in his Polk High Panthers uniform, accompanied by a shield that reads "Kill Al Bundy") against Igor, who is a 5 time All European Jousting champion. Upon Igor's defeat, the curse is lifted, upsetting both villages (as Lower Uncton is now a dreary looking town in daylight and no one can profit from the merchandise as it was favored towards Al dying in combat) and forcing the Bundys to run for their lives from the massive angry crowd.
Trivia[]
- It can be assumed that the Bundys are at least of partial Irish heritage through Seamus as:
- The "Mc" prefix in "McBundy" indicates Irish or Scottish origin, as Mc (or Mac) means "Son of". In this case, McBundy would mean "Son of Bundy".
- "Bundy" itself is an English surname and a variation of "Bond", which means "Husbandman" or "Farmer". McBundy would then translate as "Son of the farmer".[1]
- Seamus is an Irish male given name that is equivalent to "James".
- Seamus sounds like he is speaking with a stereotypical Irish accent compared to Poxilda or the other villagers.
- The "Mc" prefix in "McBundy" indicates Irish or Scottish origin, as Mc (or Mac) means "Son of". In this case, McBundy would mean "Son of Bundy".
Appearances[]
- Season 6
- England Show (Part 1)
- England Show (Part 3) (mentioned only)