Folk Tales of Scotland (15 page)

‘I’ll take this bottle with me,’ said he.

There was also a loaf of bread on the table. John cut a slice, ate it and still the loaf remained whole.

‘I’ll not leave you behind,’ said John, putting the loaf in his knapsack.

There was also a big round cheese on the table. John cut a wedge of cheese, ate it and still the round cheese was whole, so he put it into his knapsack with the loaf, the bottle of wine, and the
three bottles of Green Glen water. Then he returned to Eagle.

‘You’re lucky the Black Dogs didn’t see you,’ said Eagle.

Beside him, John suddenly saw the Bonny Lass. She was so lovely he kissed her and he was very sorry to leave her, but he had to climb on the Eagle’s back.

Eagle flew back the way they had come. As they passed, the third giant called out:

‘Son of the King of Erin, give me a drink.’

Eagle swooped down and John offered the giant the bottle of wine. The giant drained it and still it was full.

‘I’ll give you a bag of gold for this bottle,’ said the giant.

‘That’s a bargain,’ said John, ‘but you must promise to give it to the Bonny Lass when she comes this way.’

‘She’ll get it,’ promised the third giant.

John gave him the bottle of wine and put the bag of gold in his own knapsack. On he flew on Eagle’s back till they passed over the second giant’s house.

‘Son of the King of Erin,’ called the giant, ‘give me a bite of bread.’

Eagle swooped down and John cut a chunk of bread from the loaf. When the giant had eaten it he saw the loaf was still whole.

‘I’ll give you a bag of silver for that loaf,’ said he.

‘That’s a bargain,’ said John, ‘but you must promise to give it to the Bonny Lass when she comes this way.’

‘She shall have it,’ promised the giant.

So John gave him the loaf of bread and put the bag of silver in his knapsack. Away he flew on Eagle’s back till they came to the first giant’s house. The giant waved to them and
shouted:

‘Son of the King of Erin, give me a slice of cheese.’

Eagle swooped down and John cut the giant a slice from the big round of cheese. When the giant had eaten it he saw that the round of cheese was still whole.

‘I’ll give you a bag of precious stones for that cheese,’ said he.

‘Done,’ agreed John, ‘but you must promise to give it to the Bonny Lass when she comes this way.’

‘I’ll do that,’ promised the giant.

So John gave him the cheese and put the bag of precious stones in his knapsack. He jumped on Eagle’s back and away they flew till they came to his father’s palace. Outside the palace
walls, he saw his two elder brothers. They were not pleased to see him, but he greeted them.

‘Did you have any luck?’ he asked. ‘Did you find the waters of the Green Glen?’

‘We did not,’ they replied, ‘and nor did you, by the look of you.’

‘That’s where you’re wrong,’ said John. ‘Look at this.’ He opened his knapsack and showed them the three bottles of water from the Green Glen.

‘There’s a bottle for each of us. Come lads, let’s take them to our father. He’ll be tired of blindness.’

So the three brothers went off together, but when they were in a quiet place, the two elder lads attacked John. When they thought he was dead they threw him behind a dyke, stole the three
bottles of water from his knapsack and took them to the King of Erin, their father.

Meanwhile John lay behind the dyke and did not stir when the smith came and threw some rusty old iron over the dyke, on top of him. He lay there as though he was dead. The rusty iron got into
his wounds, and it was a long time before they healed. When they did, they left rough and ugly scars all over his face; no one recognised him as the son of the King. He became known as the Lad with
the Rough Skin who helped the smith in his foundry and smiddy.

As for the Bonny Lass John had left in the Green Glen, she grew pale and heavy, and after nine months she had a little son. She looked for John and could not find him, so she went to a
spey-wife.

‘Can you help me find the father of my little son?’

‘All I can do is to give you this bird,’ said the spey-wife. ‘It will perch on the head of your young son’s father and on the head of no one else.’

So the Bonny Lass took her son and the magic bird. They searched the Green Glen from end to end, but the bird did not stir.

‘I’ll walk the four brown quarters of the earth to find him,’ said the Bonny Lass.

At last she came to the third giant’s house. There, on a table, was a bottle of wine.

‘Who gave you that?’ she asked the giant.

‘The son of the King of Erin,’ he replied. ‘He told me to give you the bottle of wine when you came this way.’

So she took the bottle and went on her way till she came to the second giant’s house. There, on a table, she saw a loaf of bread.

‘Who gave you that?’ she asked the giant.

‘The son of the King of Erin,’ said he. ‘He told me to give it to you when you came by.’

She took the loaf and went on and on till she came to the first giant’s house, and there, on a board, was a large round cheese.

‘Who gave you the cheese?’ she asked the giant.

‘The son of the King of Erin,’ he replied. ‘Now I have to give it to you.’

The Bonny Lass took the cheese, along with the bread, the wine, the magic bird and her small son. On and on she went till she came to the palace of the King of Erin. There she stood at the gate,
watching the people as they came and went. There were many young men amongst them, but not once did the bird stir. At last it seemed as if everyone in the town had passed through the gate. Bonny
Lass was in despair. She thought she would never see the Prince again. She asked the smith if there were any young men in the town who had not passed through the gate that day.

‘Well, there’s the rough-skinned lad who helps me in the smiddy. He hasn’t left his work today,’ said the smith. ‘But you’ll not be meaning him,
surely?’

‘Rough or not, I’d like to see him,’ she said.

‘I’ll send him here right away,’ said the smith.

As soon as the magic bird saw the rough-skinned lad, it perched on his head. When she saw that, Bonny Lass ran to him and kissed him. As soon as she kissed him, the rough skin healed and she
knew him without a doubt.

‘You’re the father of my little son,’ said she.

‘And you’re my Bonny Lass,’ said the Prince and kissed her.

The King came to see what was happening. He recognised his long-lost youngest son, for he had recovered the sight of both eyes after bathing them with the water from the Green Glen.

‘John,’ said he, ‘was it you who fetched the water for my eyes?’

‘It was, father. My brothers took it from me.’

‘What shall be done with your cruel brothers?’

‘The same as they did to me.’

Then John took the Bonny Lass by the hand and they were married. There was a magnificent feast and the Brown Bear of the Green Glen came and danced at the wedding.

NE
day, Father Wren and his twelve sons were in the barn threshing corn, when the sly
fox, Tod, came by.

‘I want one of your sons, old wren,’ said he.

‘Which of us are you speaking to?’ said a wren. ‘We know we all look alike and there’s nothing to choose between us. If you can point out which is the father, you may
have your pick of us.’

The fox looked at the wrens. It was true. They all looked exactly alike, as they carried on with the threshing. He could not tell one from, another. Then he said:

‘It’s easy to tell the old hero from the rest of you, by the skilful way he works!’

‘Ah, you should have seen me when I was a young wren,’ said the old one, giving himself away without thinking, for he could not resist the flattery of the sly fox, Tod.

After that the fox took away one of his sons without any argument.

There was another old wren who, with his twelve sons, was by the peat-bog, when he saw a plant he wanted. He tried to pull it up by the root, but he was not strong enough, so he
called to one of his twelve sons to help him. They both pulled this way and that way, till they were white in the face and red in the cheeks, but they could not pull the root out of the ground.

‘Come and give us a hand!’ called the old wren to another son.

But the three of them were no better than two. Although they pulled this way and that with all their strength, they could not move the root.

One after another of the sons came to help. They all pulled together but it was no use till the twelfth son came. Then the thirteen wrens pulled, pulled with all their might and were white in
the face and red in the cheeks, when all of a sudden, the plant came out of the ground, root and all. The old wren fell back on his first son, the first fell back on the second son, the second fell
back on the third son, the third fell on the fourth son, the fourth fell on the fifth son, the fifth fell on the sixth son, the sixth fell on the seventh son, the seventh fell on the eighth son,
the eighth fell on the ninth son, the ninth fell on the tenth son, the tenth fell on the eleventh son, and the eleventh fell on the twelfth son, who fell back into the peat-bog, taking all the
others with him.

NCE
upon a time a man and a woman had so many children they could not get enough food to
feed them all. So they took the three youngest lasses and left them in a wood.

The three children walked and walked, without seeing a house. It began to grow dark and they were hungry. At last they saw a light, and made for it. They found it was a house.

They knocked at the door. A woman opened it and asked them what they wanted. They begged her to let them in and give them a bite of bread. The woman said she could not do that, as her husband
was a giant and he would kill them if he came home and found them there.

‘Let us stay just for a while,’ they begged. ‘We’ll go away before your husband returns.’

So the woman took them in and set them down by the fire, and gave them bread and milk. But just as they had begun to eat, there was the sound of heavy footsteps and in came the giant, and
bellowed:

‘What have you there, wife, what have you there?’ he said.

‘Three poor lasses cold and hungry. They’ll go away as soon as they’ve had a bite of food,’ said she. ‘You’ll not touch them, husband?’

The giant said nothing, but ate his supper. Then he ordered the three lasses to stay the night, and share a bed with his own three daughters.

Before they went to bed, the giant put straw ropes round the necks of the strangers, while round the necks of his three daughters he put chains of gold. Now, the youngest of the three strangers
was called Mally Whuppie. She was very clever, and noticed what the giant had done. She took good care not to fall asleep, but waited till she was sure all the others were sound asleep.

Then she slipped out of bed and exchanged the necklaces. The giant’s daughters now wore straw necklaces, while Mally Whuppie and her two sisters wore necklaces of gold. Then she lay down
again, pretending to be asleep.