And they said, ‘Lady, you are beautiful! You are a wonderful woman!’ because they heard the tinkle of her gold.
And she said, ‘No, I am ugly!’ and she walked on. She travelled and she travelled and she travelled on and … the same thing along the way. Till one night very late she came to a forest, she looked round and all the trees were cut and cleaned up. She walked on, saw a little light. It became late at night and she says, ‘I must have somewhere to stay fir the night.’ She walked to this little cottage, knocked at the door and out came this old woman. And the queen said, ‘Excuse me, I am an auld woman on the road, would you give me shelter fir the night?’
‘Yes,’ says the old woman, ‘come in, there’s only nobody here but my son an I. Ye’re welcome tae share what we hev.’
‘Oh,’ she said, ‘I’ve got gold tae pay fir it.’
‘Oh no, says the old woman, ‘we dinna want yir gold. Jist come in an make yirsel at home.’
And the queen was amazed because the old woman had never even looked or paid any attention to how she looked. When the queen walked into the kitchen she looked: sitting on a chair, an old-fashioned chair by the peat fire, was the youngest, most handsome and best looking man she had ever seen in her life! Tall, blond, curly hair, blue eyes, the best looking man she had ever seen – it remembered her so much her husband – the queen was aghast to look at this young man sitting in the chair!
And the young man rose up, he took the old woman, said, ‘Sit down, my lady, an have my chair. Heat yirself by the fire an have something to eat.’ And he never even looked or said ‘ugly’ or nothing, he never said nothing. So the queen sat down and she had something to eat, never giving a thought that she was in the most humble home that ever she could have met, the home of a woodcutter’s son and his mother. But the secret was, he had known the truth – told to him by his father.
And after her meal the queen sat, she talked to the old woman, says, ‘I’m jist an auld wumman.’ And she turned round to the son, says, ‘Are you working?’
‘No, my auld wumman, I’m not working,’ he said, ‘I’m idle, I can’t find a job. My father was a woodcutter, but wood is gettin very scarce, we’re not allowed to cut more wood around here.’
‘Well,’ she said, ‘I’ve got money, I cuid give you money.’
‘My lady, I cuidna accept yir money,’ he says, ‘no way.’
She says, ‘I’ll give ye my money, my two bags of gold …’
And this was Jack who stayed with his mother in a little cottage that she had wandered into, and Jack said, ‘Lady, I don’t want yir gold. I have no need fir yir money or yir gold. I’m staying here with ma mother an we manage tae get by without yir gold. Poor old woman, you need it where you’re goin.’
She says, ‘Look, I’ll give ye my full bag of gold if ye tell me one thing!’
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘mother, I’ll tell ye anything ye want – aye, there’s only one thing I can tell ye – I hev tae tell ye the truth.’
She said, ‘Am I not the most beautiful an handsomest woman ye hev ever saw in yir life – with my beautiful bags of gold? I can give you these bags o’ gold an make you rich fir evermore!’
And Jack turned round, he said, ‘Luik, no, my mother, auld woman, you are the most uglies creature that ever walked through my mother’s door! An you could never give me any gold because I would never accept it. I’m not gaun to deceive you, how you get by in this world by bein so ugly and so stupid – why people has not tuik that from ye a long time ago I don’t know. But try an give that to me, and ask me to say that you are beautiful, an try to bribe me – I wouldna accept one single coin from you!’
She says, ‘I am a beautiful woman!’
He says, ‘You are the uglies auld thing that ever walked through my mother’s door!’
And the queen rose, she placed the two bags o’ gold in front o’ Jack. She put her arms round Jack’s neck, ‘John,’ she said, ‘dae ye know who I am?’
He says, ‘You are still an ugly aul wumman!’
She says, ‘I am Her Majesty the Queen!’
And John went down on his knees in front of her, he begged pardon for what he said and asked forgiveness. And she sat and told him the story, but she never told him that she had become ugly through the old hen-wife’s bottle, she never mentioned that! But Jack accepted her tale and she told him that only he could save her daughter. She told Jack, ‘In the island … I want you to do something fir me, Jack, my little daughter is a prisoner on the island.’
Jack said, ‘Ir Majesty, why don’t you send troops or men or something to re—’
She says, ‘There’s no way it can be done because the giant hesna got a heart, no way … hesna got a heart. Would ye do one thing fir me, would you rescue my daughter from the island an destroy that giant, take my daughter back, Jack? Because you survive on truth!’
‘Well,’ says Jack ‘it disna look like a big job to me.’
She said ‘I’ll give ye everything under the sun. First you have got tae get to the island, an then you’ve got tae get to the home o’ the giant and rescue my daughter.’
So Jack’s mother came in, she sat down by the fire and the queen told her the whole tale. She says to Jack, ‘I think you’d be better tae do whit the queen asks ye fir tae do.’
‘Well,’ Jack said, ‘it’s only a job fir me. In fact, I’m no doin very much at the moment, Mother. I’ll do what the queen asks, I’ll go and bring her daughter for her.’
So the queen turned round to Jack, ‘You know what you’ve got to face?’
‘Oh,’ says Jack, ‘I know what I’ve got to face: you told me, there’s a giant that lives on the island an he has yir daughter a prisoner, it’s very simple fir to take yir daughter from the giant, an bring her back to you is all you ask. Ir Majesty the Queen, I’ll do that for you! But make me one promise.’
‘What’s that?’ says the queen.
‘That you’ll be there – are ye tellin me the truth – that you’ll be there whan I fetch yir daughter back!’
‘Yes,’ says the queen, ‘I’ll be there!’
So the next morning Jack bundled up a wee bag on his back. His mother made him a bannock and fried him a wee collop, and Jack set sail to do the job for the queen. He wanted no money, he wanted nothing, and he left the old queen with his mother, bade his mother ‘goodbye’. He set sail along his way and he walked on, he walked on and he walked on and he made his way till he came to the sea, the shoreside. He thought to himself, ‘I’ll sit down here an rest fir a while.’ And he took out his wee piece o’ bannock that his mother had given him and his wee bit o’ ham, and what came in beside him was a swan. And Jack naturally threw wee pieces of his meat to the swan. Though he was hungry himself he threw little pieces to the swan, and the swan came closer and closer and closer to him … and Jack threw pieces.
And the swan turned and spoke, ‘Jack, you’re good an truthful, an you fed me – I want to help you.’
Jack had never heard a swan speaking before and he was mesmerised, he said, ‘Swan, are you talkin to me?’
‘Yes, Jack,’ he said, ‘I’m talkin to you. Well, I know what ye’re gaunna do, but remember one thing, you are goin into the island of the indestructible giant who has the queen’s daughter a prisoner. But, Jack, you’ll never do it because the giant has no heart.’
And Jack said, ‘“The giant has no heart”, I never heard a thing in ma life – “the giant …” everybody’s got a heart!’ And Jack was young and strong, he thought himself fit enough to face the giant.
And the swan says, ‘You could never do nothing to the giant! But remember, Jack, you fed me. You go inta the island, an in the island is my nest. In my nest is an egg an in that egg is the giant’s heart. So you take that egg and squeeze it, take it in yir hand an squeeze it. Then ye’ll have the power over the giant.’ And like that the swan flew away!
Now Jack knows what he’s got to do. Jack walks down and borrows a boat from an old fisherman, he says to the fisherma
n, ‘I would like to borrow a boat.’
And the old fisherman said, ‘Why do you want to borrow a boat?’
Jack says, ‘I want to go out to the island.’
And the old fisherman said, ‘Please, please, don’t go out there! That is the home of the indestructible giant, you could never never …’
Jack said, ‘I’m not asking you to take me, I jist want to borrow yir boat.’
The old fisherman said, ‘Look, be it upon yir own head but you can have the boat, but I’ll not go with ye.’
Jack said, ‘let me have the boat!’ So the old fisherman gave Jack the boat. Jack rowed and he rowed and he rowed out to sea, till he came to the island. He beached the boat, walked up and the first thing he saw when he landed in the island was a swan’s nest. And inside the swan’s nest was a large egg! Jack picked up the egg and he held it in his hand. He walked, he walked up this path and the first thing he saw was a great castle!
And when he walked up to the castle out came the giant – fourteen feet tall – ‘What are you doin here, what do ye want?’
Jack said, ‘I have come tae take the queen’s daughter that you hev a prisoner here.’
The giant said, ‘I shall never part with her! Fir years the king has destroyed his wrath upon me – he has tried tae destroy me fir years – an he has never succeedit. And now, by sheer bad luck the king is gone an I have got his daughter, and I am guanna keep her fir her entire life!’
And Jack said, ‘You ain’t guanna keep her, I’m gaunna have her!’ an he started to squeeze and the giant put his hand on his heart, and Jack squeezed the egg.
He says, ‘You can never destroy me!’
Jack said, ‘I am gaun tae destroy you – I have the egg – an I am gaun to destroy you!’
‘Where,’ said the giant,’ hev ever you discovered the power of my body?’ And Jack squeezed the egg and the giant doubled in two, he said, ‘Please, please don’t do it!’
Jack said, ‘I have you – it – and you are gaunnae tell it in truth!’
And he squeezed the egg and the giant said, ‘What is it you want? What is it you want!’
And Jack said, ‘You shall return the baby to the queen!’
The giant said, ‘Please … please, don’t squeeze so hard, you’re hurting me!’
Jack says, ‘You shall take the baby in yir arms an you shall walk across the sea, and deliver the child back to the queen!’
And the giant said, ‘Yes, I’ll do that. But please don’t squeeze it so hard, you’re hurting my heart!’
The giant took the baby in his oxters and he walked across the sea, he delivered it to the queen. And the queen was there at the door, he put the baby in the queen’s arms and the queen was as ugly as ever. She held the child and the child started to cry when she looked at her mother!
Jack is still in the island by this time, he could see across the water and he’s standing watching the giant coming through the water. And he waited … till the giant was halfway in the sea, halfway through the water … he took the egg and he broke it on the floor. Naturally, as he broke the egg, down went the giant into the sea and the waves covered him!
Jack took his boat and he walked down, he rowed across to the land, and he walked on. He came back to the castle where the queen was, and the first thing he saw was the ugly old woman with this baby in her oxters! He knew right away that she was the queen. There was a great meeting and everyone was carrying on, the queen’s baby had come home and everybody was excited.
The queen said, ‘Make way, make way, make way fir the man who has brung back my child!’ And Jack was led up to the palace, they gave him the greatest reception in the world. And the queen said, ‘We must have a great party, a great reception fir my child comin home. But we must give thanks to one person who has made it possible fir us to have wir child back, the princess; fir Jack – we must adore him an give him all that he asks for!’
And Jack was amazed, mesmerised, because he’d never been in this place before. Only one thing he wanted, was to get back to his mother.
The queen said, ‘We mus have a great feast an Jack is gaunna be with us. Give him all the attention that we can give in this world because he has brought back my daughter to the kingdom.’ So the great feast was held, the party was held and dancing and singing went on and everybody came, kissed the young princess because she had come home. And the giant was destroyed for ever and Jack was given a hero’s welcome. But lo and behold Jack was so unhappy – he only wanted one thing – he wanted back to his mother. And the queen came in, ugly old queen she says to Jack, ‘Won’t you stay, Jack? Why don’t you stay with me, why don’t you stay with me fir ever?’
He says, ‘I cuid never stay with you, you are …’
She says, ‘Jack, tell me the truth – am I not the nicest person you ever saw?’
He says, ‘I have done for you – got yir daughter back – and you are Er Majesty the Queen of this country. But you are still to me the most ugliest auld person that ever I saw in my life! An tomorrow morning I would like tae be gone from this place because I have got tae go to my mother.’
The queen walked up to her bedroom, she took the little bottle that the hen-wife gave her and she spread it around her face and her body, sprayed it around her. She looked in the mirror … and ye’ll no believe it, it breaks my heart to tell ye … it was the most beautiful thing that ever walked on earth she became after she’d put this on her. She was younger, handsomer and more beautiful than ever she’d been in her life before! And she walked into her bedroom, she picked up two bags o’ gold and she walked down the stairs. And there was Jack ready to take off to see his mother.
She walked down to Jack, said, ‘Jack, here’s yir reward.’
He says, ‘Reward, fir what?’
She says, ‘Fir bringin my—’
He said, ‘Your daughter? Who are you?’
She said, ‘I am the queen!’
He said, ‘You are no queen … you’re the most beautiful person that ever walked in this earth!’
She says, ‘Jack, I know.’
He says, ‘Why do you know?’
‘Because,’ she said, ‘you are tellin the truth.’
And Jack put his arms round the queen and kissed her; he says tae her, ‘I don’t want any gold, I want nothing.’
She says, ‘What do you want, Jack?’
He says, ‘I want you fir my wife!’
She says, ‘I know, because you’re telling the truth.’ And Jack married the queen, and that is the end o’ my story!
BARRIE MOOSKINS
The Coming of the Unicorn
This story was well known among the travelling people in my time when I used to walk among my people, because everyone loved it. It was told round the camp-fire as usual, same as the rest, and we were so interested, you know what I mean. Old Hector Kelby in Aberdeenshire was a great story-teller and he told me many tales – where the unicorn really began was one of his.
MANY many years ago, long long before your time andmine when this country was very young, there once lived a king. But this particular king was a great huntsman and he lived with his wife in this great castle. And the only thing that this king really loved to do was hunt, he hunted small animals, he hunted big animals, and in these bygone days the land was overrun with animals to hunt. He had his huntsmen and he had a beautiful wife, he had a beautiful palace, he had a beautiful kingdom and he was very happy. And he got pleasure from hunting. But the king only hunted to supply food for his own castle and for the villages around his kingdom. He used to collect all his huntsmen and go on hunts, maybe three–four times a year, to give his people enough food.
But one particular day this king gathered all his huntsmen together, said ‘good-bye’ to the womenfolk because they’d be gone for a couple days or maybe more, to bring back all these animals they would salt for the winter; bade ‘good-bye’ to his queen as usual and took all his huntsmen, they rode out. And they rode for many days in the forest, becaus
e in these bygone days it was mostly all forest, there weren’t many townships or little villages along the way. The land was very desolate but was overrun with animals of all descriptions. Then the huntsmen always made sure that the king should get the best shot, anything that would come up before them.
So lo and behold what should stop before the king … it was all bows and arrows in these days and swords … who should they corner but a bear, a great brown bear. The huntsmen drew back and let the king have the first shot, because it was a big bear and they knew it carried a lot of weight, it would be a lot of food for the villagers. The king, who was a great archer, put his bow and arrow to his shoulder and he fired, he fired an arrow and he hit the bear, the arrow stuck in the bear’s chest. And the bear stood up straight when the blood started to fall from its chest, it put its paw to its chest where the arrow had entered, it held it there for a few minutes. And the king was amazed: it stood straight there and it took its paw – it looked at the blood on its paw – and it looked at the king. And then it cowpled over, fell down dead. And the king was so sad at seeing this, he was so sad.
He told his huntsmen, ‘Pick it up and carry it back. We will hunt no more today.’ They carried the bear back to the palace, and the king said to his huntsmen, ‘Take it and divide it among the villagers, but bring me its skin.’
So naturally the huntsmen divided the bear up, passed it around to all the people in the village and they brought the skin to the king. And the king gave orders for the skin to be dried, the skin was dried through time and brought into the palace and put upon the floor. But every time the king looked at the skin, he got sadder and sadder and sadder. And the sadder he got the less he thought about hunting.
Now the next hunt was coming up and the king didn’t want to go, he didn’t want to hunt. He went into his chamber and he felt so sad. The bugle was sounding for the next hunt, they called on their king, but lo and behold the king wouldn’t go. And from that day on to the next months and the next months following and the next months following, the king never joined in – no more did the king join the hunt. His charger was waiting, his beautiful horses were in the stable, his bows and arrows were sharpened for him, but the king never went. The huntsmen hunted, but they couldn’t coax their king in any way. The king was down-hearted and broken. The queen was upset, she was so troubled.
The King and the Lamp Page 23