English Fairy Tales
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English Fairy Tales
The Project BookishMall.com eBook, English Fairy Tales, by Flora Annie Steel, Illustrated by Arthur Rackham
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Title: English Fairy Tales
Author: Flora Annie Steel
Release Date: November 9, 2005 [eBook #17034]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT BookishMall.com EBOOK ENGLISH FAIRY TALES***
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ENGLISH FAIRY-TALES
Retold by
FLORA ANNIE STEEL
Illustrated by Arthur Rackham
First published by Macmillan & Co. 1918
[Illustration: Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar at home (page 190).]
CONTENTS
ST. GEORGE OF MERRIE ENGLAND
THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS
TOM-TIT-TOT
THE GOLDEN SNUFF-BOX
TATTERCOATS
THE THREE FEATHERS
LAZY JACK
JACK THE GIANT-KILLER
THE THREE SILLIES
THE GOLDEN BALL
THE TWO SISTERS
THE LAIDLY WORM
TITTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE
JACK AND THE BEANSTALK
THE BLACK BULL OF NORROWAY
CATSKIN
THE THREE LITTLE PIGS
NIX NAUGHT NOTHING
MR. AND MRS. VINEGAR
THE TRUE HISTORY OF SIR THOMAS THUMB
HENNY-PENNY
THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL
MR. FOX
DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT
THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG
THE WEE BANNOCK
HOW JACK WENT OUT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE
THE BOGEY-BEAST
LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD
CHILDE ROWLAND
THE WISE MEN OF GOTHAM
CAPORUSHES
THE BABES IN THE WOOD
THE RED ETTIN
THE FISH AND THE RING
LAWKAMERCYME
MASTER OF ALL MASTERS
MOLLY WHUPPIE AND THE DOUBLE-FACED GIANT
THE ASS, THE TABLE, AND THE STICK
THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END
THE ROSE TREE
ILLUSTRATIONS
IN COLOUR
Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar at home
"Somebody has been at my porridge, and has eaten it all up!"
Tattercoats dancing while the gooseherd pipes
The giant Cormoran was the terror of all the country-side
Taking the keys of the castle, Jack unlocked all the doors
The giant Galligantua and the wicked old magician transform the duke's daughter into a white hind
"Tree of mine! O Tree of mine! Have you seen my naughty little maid?"
"Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman"
She went along, and went along, and went along
And that is the story of Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar
They thanked her and said good-bye, and she went on her journey
Many's the beating he had from the broomstick or the ladle
When Puss saw the rats and mice she didn't wait to be told
"Well!" she chuckled, "I am in luck!"
She sat down and plaited herself an overall of rushes and a cap to match
The fisherman and his wife had no children, and they were just longing for a baby
IN TEXT
Headpiece--St. George of Merrie England
When she came to St. George she started and laid her hand on her heart
"Somebody has been lying in my bed,--and here she is!"
"What is that you are singing, my good woman?"
A small, little, black Thing with a long tail
Away That flew into the dark, and she never saw it no more
They brought the Castle of the golden pillars
Jack found it hard to hoist the donkey on his shoulders
"Odds splutter hur nails!" cried the giant, not to be outdone. "Hur can do that hurself!"
"Ah! Cousin Jack! Kind cousin Jack! This is heavy news indeed"
Seated on a huge block of timber near the entrance to a dark cave
On his way ... to be revenged
The country folk flying before him like chaff before the wind
Headpiece--The Three Sillies
Headpiece--The Golden Ball
He heard the bogles striving under the bed
Headpiece--The Laidly Worm
Tatty sat down and wept
As he spoke he drew out of his pocket five beans
Jack seized the axe and gave a great chop at the beanstalk
So he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house in
So he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house in
Well! he huffed and he puffed ... but he could not blow the house down
At last he flew into a violent rage and flung his stick at the bird
A spider one day attacked him
"I will go first and you come after, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey"
So she escaped
The thorns closed in around her so that she was all scratched and torn
Dick finds that the streets of London are not paved with gold
Dick Whittington hears Bow Bells
The old woman and her pig
Headpiece--How Jack went out to seek his Fortune
They both met together upon Nottingham bridge
"A vengeance on her!" said they. "We did not make our hedge high enough"
He took out the cheeses and rolled them down the hill
And they left the eel to drown
The hare ran on along the country way
A courtier came riding by, and he did ask what they were seeking
Headpiece--Lawkamercyme
A funny-looking old gentleman engaged her and took her home
White-faced simminy has got a spark of hot cockalorum on its tail
[Illustration: Headpiece--St. George of Merrie England]
ST. GEORGE OF MERRIE ENGLAND
In the darksome depths of a thick forest lived Kalyb the fell enchantress. Terrible were her deeds, and few there were who had the hardihood to sound the brazen trumpet which hung over the iron gate that barred the way to the Abode of Witchcraft. Terrible were the deeds of Kalyb; but above all things she delighted in carrying off innocent new-born babes, and putting them to death.
And this, doubtless, she meant to be the fate of the infant son of the Earl of Coventry, who long long years ago was Lord High Steward of England. Certain it is that the babe's father being absent, and his mother dying at his birth, the wicked Kalyb, with spells and charms, managed to steal the child from his careless nurses.
But the babe was marked from the first for doughty deeds; for on his breast was pictured the living image of a dragon, on his right hand was a blood-red cross, and on his left leg showed the golden garter.
And these signs so affected Kalyb, the fell enchantress, that she stayed her hand; and the child growing daily in beauty and stature, he became to her as the apple of her eye. Now, when twice seven years had passed the boy began to thirst for honourable adventures, though the wicked enchantress wished to keep him as her own.
But he, seeking glory, utterly disdained so wicked a creature; thus she sought to bribe him. And one day, taking him by the hand, she led him to a brazen castle and showed him six brave knights, prisoners therein. Then said she:
"Lo! These be the six champions of Christendom. Thou shalt be the seventh and thy name shall be St. George of Merrie England if thou wilt stay with me."
But he would not.
Then she led him into a magnificent stable where stood seven of the most beautiful steeds ever seen.
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