Scottish Traditional Tales

by A. J. Bruford

  She was willing enough – she jumped at the chance to go with him. everything happened that night as it had happened the night before. The calf dressed her in the dress of moss cotton and the other fineries that were in the chest, and he carried her to the hall, and she went in to the ball with the rest of the company. There were plenty of beautiful young maidens to be seen there, but none of them was as beautiful as she.

  The dancing began, and the king’s son was as attentive to her as ever, and he was quite determined to find out before the night ended who she was or where she came from, and then he would offer her his heart. But she managed to slip off when his attention was distracted. The brown calf was waiting at the door, and he did as he had done before, and when the clothes had been put back in the chest, he brought her back to the scullery, and there was no sign for the king’s son where to seek or search for her.

  Thereupon the king’s son vowed and swore that another night would not pass before he found her, and he sent out the same proclamation for the third night. Everything happened as it had happened on the previous nights. The brown calf came for her and took her to the green hillock where the chest was hidden, and this night he dressed her in the dress like starlight and all the other fineries she had worn the other nights.

  The king’s son had warned the doorkeepers to be on their guard, and if they saw her leaving, to lay hold of her. Everything happened as before. The king’s son had not an eye for anyone but her, but she found a chance to slip away when the ball was coming to an end. The doorkeeper was on his guard, and he tried to catch hold of her, but for all that he only got hold of the heel of the golden shoe, and when the king’s son came up to him, he had only the golden shoe. The brown calf helped her as usual, and she was in the scullery as usual by the time the ball finished.

  Now the king’s son had the golden shoe, but he had no idea whose it was. He decided to summon the girls who had been at the ball the night before, and marry the one the golden shoe fitted. That was what he did, but the golden shoe wouldn’t fit any of them.

  The hen-wife had a daughter, and the mother cut off the tips of her toes and the backs of her heels and sent her up to the palace with the rest, and when the shoe was tried on her it went on with a squeeze. The king’s son said that he would marry her according to his promise, though he was certain that this was not the girl he wanted. How proud the hen-wife was when the king’s son came to fetch her daughter and carried her off on a white steed to marry her.

  They had not gone far along their way when a little bird came and sat between the ears of the horse and began to sing. When the king’s son listened, this is what he heard:

  Nipped foot, clipped foot

  Behind you on the horse;

  You’ll find the one the gold shoe fits

  Sad and sorrowful in the scullery.

  He listened for no more. He leapt off the steed, seized the hen-wife’s daughter by the foot and pulled the shoe off it – and the shoe was full of blood, and the foot wanting the tips of the toes and the back of the heel. He went back to the hen-wife’s house with the girl and left her with her mother, and leaving there he spurred his horse to a gallop until he reached the scullery where he found the girl he was looking for. He tried the shoe on her and it seemed as though it had been made for her foot. She had to marry him without further delay. The wedding feast was already laid out in the king’s palace, and the marriage was arranged for the next day.

  That night the brown calf came to her window and said to her: ‘You won’t see me again: I leave you my blessing. You are wondering who I am. I am your own dear mother who has entered into the form of the brown calf to save you from your father’s vows, and turned into the bird to deliver the king’s son from the hen-wife’s wiles. You have no more need of my help, and you will be happy with the king’s son. You can get your mother’s chest from the green hillock and bring it home, and my blessing will follow you and your beloved as long as you live.’

  They were married, and they held a merry, mirthful wedding but they never gave a morsel of it to me.

  9 Andrew Stewart

  THE THREE FEATHERS

  WELL, ONCE UPON A TIME there was a king and this king wis gettin up in years, he wid be away nearly the borders o eighty year auld, ye see, and he took very ill, an he wis in bed. So his doctor come tae see him and . . . he soundit oot the old king lyin in bed, an everything – he come doon, he’s asked for the oldest brother tae come, ye see, so he spoke tae the oldest brother, and he says tae the oldest brother, he says: ‘Yer father hasnae very long tae live,’ he says, ‘the best o his days is bye, an,’ he says, ‘Ah wouldn’t be a bit surprised,’ says the doctor, ‘if ye come up some mornin an find him lyin dead in his bed,’ ye see?

  So, of coorse, it wid come as a blow tae the oldest brother, and here, the oldest brother sent for the other two brothers, ye see, sent for Jeck and the other two brothers, see? So when the two brothers come up, there wis one o this brothers like, ye understand, they cried him ‘Silly Jeck’, he wis awfae saft an silly, ye know, he widnae dae nothing. He wis a humbug tae the castle; he’d done nothin for the father – in fact he wasnae on the list o gettin onything left when the father died at aw. That wis jist the way o’t, ye see. He wis a bad laddie. So anyway, here the three sons is stan’in, the oldest brother tellt them that the father wis goin tae die and something wid have tae be done, and ’at he was goin to be king, ye see. So the good adviser said: ‘Well,’ he says, ‘before the father dies,’ he says, ‘he told me that the one that would get the best table-cover, the best an the dearest table-cover that could be found in the country, would get the castle and be king,’ ye see?

  ‘Well,’ says the oldest brother,’ he says, ‘what are we goin to do,’ he says, ‘have we tae go an push wir fortune?’

  ‘No,’ says the good adviser,’ he says, ‘your father gave us three feathers,’ he says, ‘here they’re here,’ he says, ‘out of an eagle’s wing,’ an he says, ‘each o yese got tae take a feather each an go to the top tower o the castle, and throw yer feather up in the air,’ he says, ‘an whatever wey the feather went, flutter’t, that wis the way ye had tae go an push yer fortune for the table-cover.’

  So right enough they aa agreed, ye see, an Jeck wi his guttery boots an everything on – the other yins wis dressed in gaads, ye know, and swords at their side, an Jeck jist ploo’ed the fields an scraped the pots doon in the kitchen an everything, cleaned the pots, but Jack wis up wi his guttery boots along wi the rest o the brothers, ye see, an they threw the feathers up, ye see, the two brothers, an one o the feathers went away be the north, the oldest brother’s. ‘Well,’ he says, ‘brothers,’ he says, ‘see the way my feather went,’ he says, ‘away be the north,’ he says, ‘Ah suppose that’ll have to be the way Ah’ll have to go an look for the table-cover.’ The other second oldest brother threw the feather up, and hit went away be the south. ‘Ah well,’ he says, ‘Ah think,’ he says, ‘Ah’ll have tae go be the south.’ So poor Jeck, they looked at Jeck, an they werena gaen tae pey any attention tae Jeck, ye see, but Jeck threw his feather up an it swirl’t roon aboot an it went doon at the back o the castle, in the back-yaird o the castle, ye see? Aw the brothers startit laughin at him: ‘Ha! ha! ha! ha!’ They were makin a fool of Jack, ye see, because his feather went doon at the back o the castle. So Jack gien his shooders a shrug like that an he walks doon the stairs, intae the kitchen.

  Noo the two brothers, they got a year an a day to get a good table-cover. So Jack never bothered goin to see aboot his table-cover or nothing, ye see, aboot his feather, rather, or nothing, ye see, so he’d jist aboot a couple o days tae go when the year an the day wis up and Jack’s up one day lyin in his bed and he says: ‘Ma God!’ he says, ‘Ah should go an hae a look at ma feather tae,’ he says, ‘Ah’ve never seen where it wis gettin.’ It wis a warm kind o afternoon. He says: ‘Ah’ll go for the fun o the thing,’ he says, ‘an see where ma feather went.’ So for curiosity Jeck went roon the back o the castle, an we
nt roond the back o the castle, an he wydit through nettles an thistles an he hears a thing goin: ‘Hoo-ho, o-ho-ho-ho,’ greetin. Jack looks doon at his feet an here there wis a big green frog sittin, a green puddick, sittin on top o a flagstane, an the tears wis comin out o its een. An Jack looks doon an says: ‘Whit’s wrang wi ye, frog?’

  ‘Oh Jeck, ye didnae gie us much time tae go on tae get ye a table-cover, did ye? Ye should hae been here long ago. You were supposed tae follow yer feather the same as ony ither body.’

  But Jeck says: ‘] didnae ken,’ he says, ‘I thocht . . . when the feather went doon at the back o the castle Ah jist had tae stay at the castle.’

  ‘Oh well, ye cannae help it noo,’ said the frog, he says, ‘Ye’d better come away doon. Luft that flagstane,’ he says. There wis a ring, an iron ring in the flagstane. (Ye know whit a flagstane is? It’s a square big stone that’s in the ground an ye can lift it up, ye see.) An this big iron ring wis in this flagstane, an Jack wis a big strong lump o a fella, he lifts the stane up aboot half a turn aff the grun, ye see, an there wis trap stairs goin doon. Jack went doon the trap stairs, an the puddick hopped doon the stairs like ’at, an tellt Jack tae mind his feet.

  Jeck went in. He says: ‘Well, Ah never seen frogs,’ he says, ‘haen a place like this before.’ A big long passage an ‘lectric lights burnin an everything an frogs goin past him, hoppin past him, an the smell o the meat an’, nice smell o reshturant an everything was something terrible, ye see. Took Jack into a lovely place like a parlour, an here when Jack went in he sut doon on this stool, an the frogs aw speakin tae him, ye see, an one frog jumpit on tap o Jack’s knee, an Jack’s clappin the wee frog like this, an it’s lookin up wi its wee golden eyes, up at Jack’s face, an Jack’s clappin the wee frog, pattin him on top o the back, an it’s lookin up at him an laughin at him in his face.

  ‘Well Jack,’ he says, ‘you better go now,’ he says, ‘ye havenae much time, yer brothers’ll be comin home tomorrow,’ he says, ‘we’ll hae tae get ye a table-cover.’ So Jack thocht tae hissel, where wis a . . . puddicks goin tae get him a table-cover, frogs, ye see, goin tae get a table-cover tae him. But anyway, they come wi a broon paper.

  ‘Now,’ he says, ‘Jack,’ he says, ‘there is a broon paper parcel,’ he says, ‘an there’s a cover in there,’ he says. ‘Right enough,’ he says, ‘yer brothers will have good table-covers, but,’ he says, ‘the like o this,’ he says, ‘is no in the country.’ He says, ‘Don’t open it up,’ he says, ‘till you throw it on your father’s bed, an when you throw it on your father’s bed,’ he says, ‘jist tell him tae have a look at that.’ See?

  Jack said, ‘Aa right.’

  ‘Haste up noo, Jack.’

  He could hae done wi lookin at the table-cover, but he stuck it ’neath his airm an he bid the wee frogs farewell, an he come up, pit the flagstane doon, an back intae the kitchen. So one o the maids says tae him, ‘What hae ye got ’neath yer airm, Jeck?’ Jack’s pitten it up on a shelf, ye see, oot the road.

  ‘Och,’ he says, ‘it’s ma table-cover,’ and aw the weemen start laughin, ‘Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, silly Jeck gettin a table-cover in his father’s castle. You’ve some hopes o bein king, Jack.’ An they never peyed nae attention tae Jack, ye see, so Jack jist never heedit, he’s suppin soup wi a spoon, liftin the ladle an suppin, drinkin a ladle oot at a pot, drinkin the soup an everything, ye see.

  When he looks up the road, up the great drive, an here comin down is the two brothers comin gallopin their brae steeds, an the medals on their breist an the golden swords, they were glutterin, an here they’re comin at an awful speed down the drive, ye see. ‘Here’s ma two brothers comin,’ an he ran oot the door an he welcomed his two brothers, ye see, an they widnae heed Jack.

  ‘Get oot o ma road,’ one o them said. ‘Get oot o ma road, eediot,’ he says, ‘you get oot o the road.’ An they stepped up, ye see, an opened the door an went up tae see their father. So the father said, ‘There no time the now, sons’ – they were greedy, they wantit tae get made king, ye see . . . ‘Wait,’ he says, ‘until yese get yer dinner, boys,’ he says, ‘an then come up an . . . Ah’ll see yer table-covers. Ah’ll have tae get the good advisers in, ye see.’ (The good advisers was men. There wis three o them an they pickit whatever wan wis the best, ye see, same as solicitors an things in this days nowadays, ye see.)

  So anyway, the two brothers efter they got their feast an everything, their dinner, an come right up, ye see, an here the good advisers – rung the bells, an here the good advisers come up, red coats on them an they’ re stan’in beside them. Well, the father, the two sons felt awfy sorry for the old king because he wis gettin very weak an forlorn lookin. He wis ready for tae die any time. ‘Well, sons,’ he says. ‘Well, sons, did yese get the table-covers?’

  ‘Yes,’ says the oldest son, ‘father,’ he says, ‘have a look at this table-cover.’ An he throwed it ower on the bed an they all came an liftit the table-cover, an he examined the table-cover an it was a lovely, definitely, a lovely silk that ye never seen the like o this table-cover, heavy. Ah couldnae explain whit kind o table-cover this wis.

  ‘Yes,’ he says, ‘son,’ he says, ‘it definitely is a good table-cover,’ he says, ‘an it’ll take a bit o beatin. Have you got a table-cover?’ he says tae the second youngest son.

  ‘Well,’ he says, ‘father, there’s a table-cover,’ he says, ‘Ah don’t know if it’s as good as ma brother’s or no,’ he says, ‘but have a look at that table-cover.’ An they looked at the table-cover. Well, the one wis as good as the other. The good advisers couldnae guess which o them wis the best.

  ‘Aw but,’ says, ‘hold on,’ says one – there wis wan o the good advisers likit Jack, ye see. He says, ‘Hold on,’ he says, ‘where’s Jack?’

  ‘Aw,’ says the other good advisers, ‘what dae we want with Jack?’ he says.

  ‘Aw, but he’s supposed tae be here,’ he says, ‘and see if he’s got a table-cover,’ the oldest yin said . . . tae the other good advisers. He says, ‘Ye’re supposed tae be here,’ ye see?

  So anyway, here now . . . they shouts for Jack an Jack come up the stairs, in his guttery boots as usual, an he’s got the broon parcel ’neath his airm. So the two brothers looked at Jeck wi the green [sic] parcel ’neath his airm, ye see, an he says, ‘Have you got a table-cover,’ he says, ‘son?’ the old king said.

  ‘Yes, father,’ he said, ‘did ma brothers get the table-covers?’

  ‘Aye,’ he said, ‘there they’re there.’

  ‘Well,’ says Jack, he says, he says, ‘They’re definitely nice table-covers, but,’ he says, ‘if Ah couldnae get a better table-cover,’ he says, ‘than what ma two brothers got,’ he says, ‘in yer ain castle, father,’ he says, ‘Ah wadnae go searchin, Ah widnae go,’ he says, ‘seekin ma fortune,’ he says, ‘the distance they’ve went,’ he says. ‘tae look for table-covers,’ he says.

  So the men start laughin at Jack as usual: ‘Ha-ha-ha-ha! nonsense, Jack,’ an the old king says, ‘Ah told ye not tae send for him, he’s daft,’ ye see.

  ‘Well,’ he says, ‘have a look at that table-cover, father,’ so here the father took the scissors and opened the string, an took out . . . Well, what met their eyes was something terrible. It wis lined with diamonds and rubies, this table-cover. One diamond alone would ha’ bought the two table-covers that the brothers had, ye see?

  ‘Aye, aye,’ says the good adviser, he says, ‘that is a table-cover an a table-cover in time,’ he says. ‘Where did ye get it, son? Did ye steal it from some great castle?’

  ‘No father,’ he says, ‘I got this,’ he says, ‘in yer own castle.’

  ‘It can’t be true,’ says the king, he says: ‘I’ve never had a table-cover like that in ma life.’

  But tae make a long story short, the two brothers wouldnae agree. They said, ‘Naw, naw, naw, father,’ he says, ‘that’s not fair,’ he says, ‘We’ll have tae . . . have another chance,’ ye see. ‘We’ll have tae have another chance,’ an here th
ey wouldn’t let Jack be king. ‘Aw right,’ says Jack, he says, ‘it’s all the same tae me,’ he says, ‘if yese want a chance,’ he says, ‘again,’ he says, ‘very good,’ he says, ‘it’s aa the same tae me.’

  So the father says, ‘Well, if yese want anither chance,’ he says, ‘Ah tell ye what Ah want yese tae bring back this time,’ he says, ‘an Ah’ll give the three of yese a year an a day again,’ he says, ‘seein that Ah’m keepin up in health,’ he says, ‘Ah’ll give yese another chance. Them ’at’ll go an bring back the best ring,’ he says, ‘ ’ll get my whole kingdom,’ he says, ye see, ‘when Ah die.’

  Well, fair enough. The three brothers went an got their feathers again and went tae the top of the tower. The oldest brother threw his feather up an it went away be the east. ‘Aw well,’ he says, ‘it’ll have tae be me away for east.’ The other brother threw a feather up – the second youngest brother, an it went away be the south. ‘Aw well,’ says the other brother, he says, ‘Ah’ll go away be the south.’ Jack threw his feather up, but they didnae lauch this time. It swirl’t roon aboot like that an it went doon the back o the castle in amongst the nettles an the thistles. So they looked, the two brothers looked at each other but they never said a word. They jist went doon the stair an Jack follae’t them the big tower, ye see, doon the steps. (Stone steps in them days in the old castles.) And the two brothers bid farewell, mountit their horses and they’re away for all they can gallop in each direction, waved tae each other wi their hands an away they went. Ye could see them goin ower the horizon, see?

  Jack never bother’t, ye see. He went down an he’s two or three month in the hoose an oot he went roon. An he seen the same thing happen’t again, he went roond the back o the castle an here’s the frog sittin on tap o the flagstane. ‘Aye,’ he says, ‘Jack, ye’re back quicker this time,’ he says. ‘What did ye think of the table-cover?’