Library Archives - Wee White Hoose

February 5, 2021 / 6 Comments

Na Fir-chlis: The Tale of the Nimble Folk and the Merry Dance

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Long, long ago, in the lands to the north, a mither and her son sat together in front of the hearth as the gloaming fell and the hoar frost paled the land outside. The steam from mugs of buttered brose rose and mingled with the steam from the pulley above the fire, heavy with socks and mitts and ganseys, the air so thick with damp and stoor you could chew it.

Mither took up her spindle and her basket of wool fluff like a dun cloud and began to twist the fibres between her fingers. As she teased out and spun her yarn longer and longer, she spun a story along with it, as she so often did.

April 28, 2015 / 13 Comments

The King Under the Mountain: The Tale of Canonbie Dick

Reading Time: 4 minutes

The Arthurian legends have long been associated with England and Wales, but there is some evidence to suggest that King Arthur was in fact a Scot that lived in the seventh century: Artuir, the son of King Áedán Mac Gabráin of Dál Riata, a Gaelic kingdom encompassing the Scottish region now known as Argyll and Bute, and part of County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Amongst the many Scottish myths associated with King Arthur is the story of Canonbie Dick, the northernmost version of the king under the mountain folklore motif in Britain.

April 27, 2015 / 14 Comments

The Tale of Whuppity Stoorie

Reading Time: 4 minutes

In the toon o’ Kittlerumpit in the debatable lands, a goodman lived in a wee hoose wae his wife and bairn. One mornin’ the goodman telt his wife that he wis goin’ tae the fair. He kissed her goodbye and set aff, and he wis never seen again. His poor wife wis left wae very little, and wae the bairn tae look after she wis fair in a fash. Her neighbours were aw sorry fer her, but naebody helped her. Her only consolation wis her sow, fer it wis soon tae farrow and she hoped fer a good litter.

April 22, 2015 / 14 Comments

The Tale of the Selkie

Reading Time: 3 minutes

A long, long time ago, in the Highlands of Scotland, a fisherman was walking along a beach towards his home when a strange sound reached his ears. He looked around until his eyes fell upon a group of men and women dancing on the shore in the moonlight. He approached them quietly, hiding himself behind a ridge of rock, and as he drew closer to them he realised that they were not men and women at all, but selkies, the seal folk.

April 20, 2015 / 19 Comments

The Tale of True Thomas and The Queen of Elfhame

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Once there was a great bard who was called Thomas the Rhymer, from Ercildoune. All through Scotland, from the Cheviot Hills to the Pentland Firth, the story of Thomas the Rhymer has long been known. It is told that he vanished for seven years and that when he reappeared he had the gift of prophecy, and was given the name of True Thomas. During his seven years absence from home he is said to have dwelt in Elfhame.

April 13, 2015 / 3 Comments

The Tale of Kate Crackernuts and the Fairy Dance

Reading Time: 5 minutes

There was a king and a queen, as there so often are, and they each had a daughter, for the queen was not the first wife of the king. The king’s daughter was called Anne, and the queen’s daughter was called Kate, and though Anne was far bonnier than Kate, they loved each other as though they were real sisters. The queen was green with jealousy at the king’s daughter’s beauty and she cast about to spoil it. She took the council of the hen-wife, who told her to send the lassie to her the next morning, hungry.

April 10, 2015 / 0 Comments

The Tale of The Knight of Grianaig and Ian the Soldier’s Son

Reading Time: 12 minutes

In the land of the west, the Knight of Grianaig lived with his wife and his three daughters. The three maidens were very beautiful and full of goodness and they were dearly loved by the people, so there was much sorrowing when one day they were swept into the sea by a great beast. No one knew their fate, or how to find them, and their poor father and mother mourned endlessly.

April 9, 2015 / 10 Comments

The Hobyahs, A Scottish Nursery Tale

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Once there was a old man and an old woman and a little girl, and they lived together in a hut made of birch bark. They had a wee dug called Tavish, and he was a good dug and barked a warning when anyone came near the hut.