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Mary's Child

A poor woodcutter and his wife had a three-year-old daughter and could not feed her. The Virgin Mary appeared to the woodcutter and promised to take care of the child, so they gave her the child. She grew up happily in Heaven. One day the Virgin had to go on a journey and gave the girl keys, telling her she could open twelve doors but not the thirteenth. She opened the first twelve and found the Apostles behind them. Then she opened the thirteenth door. Behind it was the Trinity, and her finger was stained with gold. She tried to hide it, lying three times, and the Virgin Mary said she could no longer remain for her disobedience and lying.

She fell asleep and woke to find herself in a forest. Lamenting her misfortune, she lived in a hollow tree, ate wild plants, and tore all her clothing until she was naked. One day, a king found her looking beautiful but incapable of speech. He took her home and married her.

A year later, she had a son. The Virgin Mary appeared and demanded that she confess to having opened the door. She lied again, the Virgin took her son, and the people whispered that she had killed and eaten the child. In another year, she had another son, and it went as before. The third year, she had a daughter, and the Virgin Mary took her to heaven and showed her her sons, but she would not confess. This time, the king could not restrain his councilors, and the queen was condemned to death. When she was brought to the stake, she relented and wished she could confess before she died. The Virgin Mary brought back her children, restored her the power of speech, and gave her happiness the rest of her life.

Master and Pupil

A boy tried to get himself hired. A man asked him if he could read, and rejected him because he could, when all his duties would have been dusting the man's books. So the boy ran ahead of him on the road and asked for a place again, this time claiming he could not read. He dusted and read them, and because his master was a wizard, he learned magic, and to change himself into the shape of any animal.

After that, he ran away, to his parents. He would change himself into a horse, have his father sell him, and escape again. The wizard heard of this and went to buy him. The first thing he started to do was lead it away to get a red-hot nail driven into the horse's mouth, which would stop him from changing. The boy turned into dove, and the wizard into a hawk to chase him. The boy turned into a golden ring and dropped into a girl's lap. The wizard wanted to buy it, but the girl did not want to sell a ring that had fallen from heaven. Still, the wizard offered more and more money, until the boy, frightened, turned to a barley grain. The wizard became a hen to eat it, but the boy became a pole-cat to bite its head off.

He married the girl and did no more magic.

The Master Maid

A king's youngest son set out to seek his fortune and was hired by a giant. The first morning, the giant went out to bring his goats to pasture and ordered the son to clean out the stables and to not go into any of the rooms about the one where he slept.

The son disobeys and finds three pots bubbling with no fire, and one turns things into copper, the second into silver, and the third into gold. Past them, he finds, in one room, the Master Maid. She warns him that cleaning the stables as ordinary people do causes ten shovelfuls to fly back in for every one he takes out, but if he shovels with the handle, he will be able to do it. He talks with her the day long, and they agree to marry. In the evening, he set to his task. He finds that she is telling the truth, and succeeds. The giant accuses him of having spoken with the Master Maid and the prince denies it.

The next day, the giant orders him to bring in a horse from pasture. The Master Maid warns him that it breaths fire, but if he uses a bit, hanging behind the door, he will succeed. When he does, the giant accuses him of speaking with the Master Maid again, and the prince denies it.

The third day, the giant orders him to go to Hell and get his fire tax. The Master Maid tells him the directions, and that he should ask for as much as he can carry. He retrieves it, though the man who lets him says it was well that he did not ask for a horse-load. The giant accuses him of speaking with the Master Maid again, and the prince denies it.

The fourth day, the giant brings him to the Master Maid and orders her to kill him and make him into a stew. Then he lays down to sleep. The Master Maid cuts her finger and lets three drops of blood fall on to a stool. Then she puts all sorts of rubbish into a stew pot and sets it to stew. Taking a chest full of golddust, a lump of salt, a flask of water, a golden apple, and two golden chickens, she sets out with the prince. They reach the sea and start sailing over it.

The giant asks, three times, whether the stew is done, and the drops of blood answer him. The third says that it is done. The giant gets up and tries some, and realizes what the Master Maid has done.

Seeing them sailing, he sets a monster to drink up the sea, but the Master Maid has the prince throw down the salt, and it transforms into a mountain, cutting off the water. The giant sends for a monster to bore through the hill, but when he reaches the other side, the Master Maid has the prince refill the ocean by pouring the flask of water into it. The monster drinks it up again, but before the giant can catch the couple, they reach the prince's father's lands.

The prince is unwilling that she should walk into his father's castle and proposes that he should fetch a coach and seven to carry her. She says that he will forget her, and he says that he will never. She makes him promise to go straight home and only fetch the horses, neither speaking to anyone nor eating anything.

He finds a wedding party for one of his brothers, and sets about getting the coach. The wedding guests, finding he will not come in, go out with food, and when he is about to ride off, the bride's sister rolls an apple to him, and he bites it and forgets the Master Maid.

The Master Maid finds a dirty old hut, where an old woman lives, to stay. She says she will clean it up and puts gold in the pot on the fires. The gold bubbles up and gilds the cottage. The old woman is so frightened she flees, and the Master Maid lives there.

A constable finds her and wants her to marry him. She sends him off for a sackful of gold, and then she says she must bank the fire. The constable says he will do it, and once he has the poker, she says that he will hold it, and it will hold him, and he will shovel red-hot coals over himself all night. And so he does.

A clerk finds her the same manner. When he has brought the money, she says she must shut the door. The clerk says he will, and once he has the door latch, the Master Maid says that he will hold it, and it will hold him, and he will go back and forth all night. And so he does.

A sheriff finds her in the same manner. When he has brought the money, she says she must bring in a calf. The clerk says he will, and once he has it by the tail, the Master Maid says that he will hold it, and it will hold him, and he will tour the world all night. And so he does.

The next morning, her prince was to marry, to the bride's sister who had rolled the apple to him, but as the coach was setting out, a harness pin broke, and so did any pin they replaced it with. The constable says that if they borrowed the poker from the Master Maid, that will hold, and they do so, and it does.

But the coach bottom broke, and so did any bottom they replaced it with. The clerk says that if they borrowed the door from the Master Maid, that will hold, and they do so, and it does.

But then the horses would not pull, no matter how hard they were whipped. The sheriff says that if they borrowed the calf from the Master Maid, it will pull the coach, and they do so, and it does.

The prince insists on inviting the Master Maid to the wedding feast.

The Master Maid puts the golden apple on the table and then the golden chickens, which start to fight over the apple. The prince comments on it, and the Master Maid says that it was just as they fought to get away from the giant, and his memory is restored, so he marries the Master Maid instead of the bride's sister.

The Mermaid and the Boy

A king, having been married a year, set out to settle some distant subjects. His ship caught on rocks. A mermaid promised to free him in return for his firstborn, and the king had to agree.

Their son was born, and finally, when he was grown, the king told the queen that they could not keep him by them, because that was where the mermaid would look. He told the prince and sent him out into the world. He met a lion and shared his food with it; it gave him the tip of its ear, and told him it would transform him into a lion. The prince traveled for a time as a lion, but found that he got tired of walking like one. The next day, the same thing happened with a bear, and the day after that, with a bumblebee, except that he could fly as a bee all day without tiring of it.

He found a city where the princess hated all men and would not permit one in her presence. He refused a bed to sleep on a bench in the palace's hall. Then, as a bee, he flew to the princess's room. He turned back to a man and the princess shrieked; he turned back into a bee and her guards could find nothing. After he repeated this, the guards resolved to let her shriek. She realized it and did not scream the third time. The prince wooed her, and she fell in love. She told him that in three days, her father would go to war, and leave his sword behind, and whoever brought it to him would gain her hand. He told her that he would do it, and if he did not return, she should play a violin on the seashore, loudly enough to reach the seabottom.

He went with the king, and when the king discovered his loss, returned to the city as a lion. The princess gave him the sword and half a ring. The Red Knight tried to take the sword from him by force. He failed, but soon after he pushed the prince into a stream, where the mermaid seized him. The Red Knight carried off the sword to the king.

Soon the war was over, and the king told the princess she must marry the Red Knight. During the wedding feast, the princess played the violin on the shore. The mermaid commented on the song to the prince, who claimed not to hear it. Even when she brought him to the surface, he said he had water in his ears, and then wished himself into a bee. He flew to the princess.

She took him to the feast and declared that the Red Knight must show him his place by turning into a lion, a bear, and a bee, at all three of which he failed. The prince did all three. The princess told that it was the prince who retrieved the sword, and showed how their rings matched. They hanged the Red Knight, and the prince and princess married.

Molly Whuppie

three daughters left their mother to seek their fortune. She baked three bannocks and offered each of them the choice between the larger portion and her curse, and the small portion and her blessing. Only Maol took the blessing. Her older sisters did not want her, and tried to keep her away three times tying her to a rock, a peat stack, and tree, but her mother's blessing let her follow them, so they went on together.

They came to a house and begged to be let in; the woman warned them that her husband was a giant and would eat them. They promised to leave before he came, but no sooner had she given them something to eat than he arrived. She told him that they were three little lassies and he was not to hurt them. He ordered them to stay the night, and share his three daughters' beds. He put gold chains about his daughters' necks, and straw chains about the lassies'; or chunks of amber about his daughters' necks and horsehair about the lassies'. So Molly, the youngest switched them. In the middle of the night, the giant beat his daughters to death, or sent a servant to bring him the blood of the strange girls to drink because there was no water, and the servant killed them. Molly woke her sisters, and they ran away. In the Maol variant, they had to cross a river to escape the giant.

They ran on, to a king's palace, or to a great farm. Their story impressed the king or farmer, but he said if she stole the giant's sword, from the back of his bed, he would marry his oldest son to her oldest sister. She went and hid under the bed. When the giant went to sleep, she stole it. It rattled when she went over the threshold, and the giant chased her, but she escaped over the bridge of one hair. The king married his oldest son to her oldest sister, and then told her if she stole the purse the giant kept under his pillow, he would marry his second son to her second sister. Once again she hid under the bed and stole it while he slept, but he woke and chased her, and she escaped over the bridge of one hair. Her second sister was married to the king's second son.

Then the king said if she stole the ring the giant wore on his finger, he would marry his youngest son to her. She went off, hid under the bed, and grabbed the ring, but the giant caught her. He asked what she would do, if he had done to her what she had done to him, and she had caught him. She said she would put him in a sack, with a dog, a cat, a needle, thread, and shears. Then she would hang the sack on the wall, go to the wood for a thick stick, and come back and beat him dead. The giant declared that he would do just that. When she was in the sack and he was gone, Molly began to say, "Oh, if ye saw what I see." The giant's wife asked her what she meant, until she asked if she could see the same. Molly cut her way out with the shears and sewed the wife into it. The giant came back and began to hit her, and the dog's barking and the cat's meows were too loud for him to hear his wife's voice, but he saw Molly running off with the ring. He chased her, but she escaped over the bridge of one hair, married the king's youngest son, and never saw the giant again.

The Months

Cianne and Lise were brothers, and Cianne was rich and Lise poor. Lise set out to wander the world. He met with twelve youths who welcomed him, and asked him about the months. Lise said they each had their place and purpose, and it was arrogant of people to want to rearrange them. One told him that March, which was the month, was very burdensome; he answered that it advanced spring; the youth, who was the month of March, gave him a casket that granted wishes. With it, he had an easy journey home and was prosperous.

His brother was jealous of him, and Lise told him of the inn and the twelve youths, but not how they had talked. Cianne went there and received a whip. When he tried to use it, it whipped him until his brother came and used the casket to stop it. Then Lise shared his good fortune with Cianne

Mossycoat

A hawker wanted to marry a widow's young daughter, but she did not want to marry him. The widow, who was spinning a coat for her, told her to ask for a white satin dress with gold sprigs, which must fit her exactly. The girl did so, and three days later, the hawker brought it. The girl asked her mother, and at her instruction, asked the hawker for a dress the colour of all the birds of the air, which must fit her exactly. When he brought that, she asked for silver slippers, which must fit her exactly. Then her mother told him to come the next day, at ten, to get his answer. That morning, the mother gave her the coat, which she had made of moss and gold thread, and which would let her move somewhere else by wishing and also to change herself into any form by wishing. Then she sent her to the great hall to work.

She tried to get a job as a cook, but they had a cook, so the lady offered to hire her to help the cook as the undercook. She took it, but the servants would not stand it, being jealous of her beauty and her getting such a position when she left the road; instead, they made her clean dishes and hit her on the head with the skimmer.

A dance came up, and the servants jeered at the idea that she might go. The young master, who had seen how beautiful she was, asked her if she wanted to go, but she said she was too dirty, even when the master and mistress pressed her as well. That night, she put all the other servants magically asleep, washed, put on the white satin dress, and used the mossycoat to go to the ball. The young master fell in love with her, but she said only that she came from a place where people hit her on the head with the skimmer, and when the ball was over, she used the mossycoat to go back. She woke all the servants and hinted she might have to tell the mistress about their sleeping, so they treated her better. When the story came of the grand lady at the ball, they went back to abusing her.

Another ball came, and this time, she went in the other dress. The young master tried to catch her, and perhaps touched her shoe; at any rate, it came off. He made every woman try to put on the shoe, and when he heard that Mossycoat alone had not tried it, he sent for her too. The shoe fit her. The master and mistress turned off the servants for hitting her with the skimmer, and the young master and Mossycoat married.

Mother Hulda

Mother Hulda tells the tale of a rich widow and her daughter and stepdaughter. The widow favored her biological daughter, allowing her to become spoiled and idle, while her stepdaughter was left to do all the work. Every day the stepdaughter would sit outside the cottage and spin beside the well. One day she pricked her finger on the point of the spindle. Leaning over the well to wash the blood away, the spindle fell from her hand and sank out of sight. The stepdaughter feared that she would be punished for losing the spindle, and in a panic she leapt into the well after it. To her surprise, the girl found herself in the other world of Hulda, who kept her as maidservant for several weeks. Hulda was so impressed by the girl's meekness and industry she sent her back to her family, with an apron full of gold.

The mother, thinking that her own daughter should have received the gold, sent the lazy daughter down the well to work for Mother Hulda. Copying her sister, the lazy daughter bloodied her finger and leapt into the well. But Hulda reproved her idle nature by sending her home covered with pitch.