Folk Tales of Scotland (12 page)

She wondered what she would do with her twelve pennies, and at last thought she couldn’t do better than go to market with them. So she went to the market and bought a kid.

As she was going home she spied a bonny bush of berries growing beside a bridge.

‘Kid, kid,’ said she, ‘look after my house till I pull my bonny, bonny bush of berries.’

‘Indeed not,’ said the kid, ‘I’ll not look after your house till you pull your bonny bush of berries.’

Then the wife went to the dog, and said:

‘Indeed,’ said the dog, ‘I’ll not bite the kid, for the kid never did me any harm.’

Then the wife went to the stick, and said:

‘Indeed,’ said the stick, ‘I won’t beat the dog, for the dog never did me any harm.’

Then the wife went to the fire, and said:

‘Indeed,’ said the fire, ‘I won’t burn the stick, for the stick never did me any harm.’

Then the wife went to the water, and said:

‘Indeed,’ said the water, ‘I’ll not quench the fire, for the fire never did me any harm.’

Then the wife went on to the ox, and said:

‘Indeed,’ said the ox, ‘I won’t drink the water, for the water never did me any harm.’

Then the wife went to the axe, and said:

‘Indeed,’ said the axe, ‘I’ll not fell the ox, for the ox never did me any harm.’

Then the wife went to the smith, and said:

‘Indeed,’ said the smith, ‘I won’t blunt the axe, for the axe has never done me any harm.’

Then the wife went to the rope, and said:

‘Indeed,’ said the rope, ‘I won’t hang the smith, for the smith never did me any harm.’

Then the wife went to the mouse, and said:

‘Indeed,’ said the mouse, ‘I’ll not nibble the rope, for the rope never did me any harm.’

Then the wife went to the cat, and said:

‘Indeed,’ said the cat, ‘I’ll not kill the mouse, for the mouse never did me any harm.’

‘Do it,’ said the wife, ‘and I’ll give you a dish of cream.’

With that,

The cat began to kill the mouse,

The mouse began to nibble the rope,

The rope began to hang the smith,

The smith began to blunt the axe,

The axe began to fell the ox,

The ox began to drink the water,

The water began to quench the fire,

The fire began to burn the stick,

The stick began to beat the dog,

The dog began to bite the kid,

And the kid looked after the house,

Till the wife pulled her bonny, bonny bush of berries.

CROFTER
and his wife lived in a lonely croft in the north-west Highlands of Scotland.
They had a son called Tam and a cow called Brownie.

One day the goodwife went to the byre and found the cow was not there. She told her husband and son and together they searched far and wide, but they could not find the cow anywhere.

‘What shall we do without Brownie—no milk, no butter and no cheese—we’ll get thin.’

‘I’ll go and look for her,’ said Tam.

Off he went with a stout stick and a knapsack of food, for his mother said:

‘You’ll be away long enough if it’s a giant that has taken our Brownie!’

Tam walked on and on till he was tired and hungry. As he sat and ate, he called:

‘Brownie! Brownie! Moo so that I can hear you!’

Far, far away there was a faint mooing, so Tam went in that direction. Again he called:

‘Brownie! Brownie! Moo so that I can hear you!’

This time the mooing was louder, and again Tam went in that direction. When he felt tired he sat down and called:

‘Brownie! Brownie! Moo so that I can hear you!’

This time the mooing was so loud it seemed right underneath him. Tam listened carefully, then he climbed down the hillside to a cave. Inside he found Brownie tied fast by a
rope. The rope was too thick and tough to cut with his pocket knife, so he had to undo the complicated knot. When she was freed, he led her out of the cave and they set off for home together.

They had not gone far when Tam saw two giants, one even bigger than the other.

‘I don’t like the look of those giants,’ said Tam. ‘With those great strides, they’ll catch us up in no time. Brownie, whatever shall we do?’

‘Take a hair from my tail and lay it across the road.’

Tam did this, then the cow said:

‘Hair of my tail, turn into a river so wide that none can cross but a bird on the wing.’

At once the hair changed into a vast river, so wide Tam could barely see the giants on the other side. All the same, the bigger giant of the two shouted across:

‘That’s not going to stop me from catching you, my lad!’ And he said to the smaller giant: ‘Go, fetch our biggest bull.’

Soon he was back with the biggest bull Tam had ever seen. The bull drank up the river, every drop.

‘Whatever shall we do now, Brownie?’ asked Tam.

‘Take a hair from my ear and lay it across the road.’

Tam did this and the cow said to the hair:

‘Hair of my ear, turn into a fire that nothing can quench, except a wide river that none can cross but a bird on the wing.’

Instantly the hair turned into a fire that blazed as far as the eye could see.

‘That’ll not help you, my lad,’ said the giants and called their bull. The bull spewed up all the river water it had drunk, and put the fire out.

‘What shall we do now, Brownie?’ asked Tam.

‘Take a hair from my back and lay it on the ground.’

Tam did this and the cow said:

‘Hair of my back, turn into a mountain range so high that none can cross but a bird on the wing.’

At once the hair turned into a mountain range so high the top of it was out of sight.

‘That’ll not help you, my lad,’ shouted the bigger giant, and he sent the smaller one to fetch their giant drill.

The giants drilled a hole right through the mountain. The bigger giant was very excited when he looked through the hole and saw the boy and his cow. He immediately tried to squeeze through to
catch them. This was a great mistake. The giant was much too big. The more he struggled to get through the hole, the faster he stuck. Try as he may, his companion could neither push him forward nor
pull him back. Nor could he drill another hole by himself, so he had to stay where he was. As for the bigger giant, he was stuck fast and there he stayed till he turned into stone.

Tam led Brownie safely back to his mother and father. And there she stayed and gave them milk for the rest of her days.

Fox came to a farm and caught hold of a cock. Away he went with the Cock in his mouth, and all the farm-hands
after him.