Jock and His Bagpipe (A Scottish Folk-Tale)

There was a fellow called Jock, and one day he said to his mother,

“Mother, I’m going away to seek my fortune.”

“Very well, my son,” she said.

“Take the sieve and the dish to the well. Bring some water, and I’ll make you an oatcake. If you bring home a lot of water, you’ll get a large oatcake, but if you bring home little water, you’ll get a little one.”

So he took the sieve and the dish, and went to the well. When he came to the well, he saw a little bird sitting near it. When the little bird saw Jock with the sieve and the dish, it said:

“Clog your sieve with clay, or you will not be able to carry water.”

“Oh, you stupid bird!” said Jock.

“Do you think I’m going to do as you tell me? No, no!”

So the water ran out of the sieve, and he took home a little water in the dish. His mother baked a little oatcake for him, and he went away to seek his fortune. When he was walking along the road, the little bird came to him.

“Give me a piece of your oatcake,” it said,

“and I’ll give you a feather out of my wing, and you will be able to make a bagpipe for yourself.”

“I’ll not,” said Jock.

“I have a very little oatcake, and it’s not enough for myself.”

The bird flew away, and Jock went far, and far, and farther than I can say. When he came to the King’s house, he went in and asked for work.

“What can you do?” said the housekeeper.

“I can sweep a house, take out ashes, wash dishes and keep cows,” he said.

“Can you keep hares?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll try.”

“If you can keep hares,” she said to him,

“and bring them all home at night, you will marry the King’s daughter. If you don’t bring them all home, you will be hanged.”

In the morning, Jock set out with twenty-four hares and one crippled hare. He was very hungry, for he had only had a little oatcake. So he caught the crippled hare, killed it, roasted it and ate it. When the other hares saw this, they all ran away. When he came home at night without any hares, the King was very angry and ordered to hang Jock. Now, his mother had another son, and he was also called Jock.

“Mother,” he said one day.

“I’m going away to seek my fortune.”

“Very well, son,” she said.

“Take the sieve and the dish, and bring some water. If you bring home a lot of water, you will have a large oatcake. If you bring home little water, you’ll get a little one.”

So he took the sieve and the dish, and went to the well. And there he saw a little bird. When the little bird saw Jock with the sieve and the dish, it said:

“Clog your sieve with clay, or you will not be able to carry water.”

“Oh, yes, I will,” said Jock.

So he clogged the sieve with clay, and was able to bring home a lot of water. His mother baked him a very large oatcake, and he went away to seek his fortune. When he was walking along the road, the little bird came to him.

“Give me a piece of your oatcake,” said the little bird,

“and I’ll give you a feather out of my wing to make a bagpipe for yourself.”

“Oh, I will,” he said,

“for it was you who helped me to get such a large oatcake.”

He gave the bird a piece of his oatcake.

“Pull a feather out of my wing,” said the bird,

“and make a bagpipe for yourself.

“No, no! I’ll not pull a feather, for it’ll hurt you.”

“Do as I tell you,” said the bird.

Jock pulled a feather out of the bird’s wing, made the bagpipe and went along the road, playing a merry song. He went far, and far, and farther than I can tell. When he came to the King’s house, he went in and asked for work.

“What can you do?” said the housekeeper.

“I can sweep a house, take out ashes, wash dishes and keep cows,” he said.

“Can you keep hares?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll try.”

“If you can keep hares,” she said to him,

“and bring them all home at night, you will marry the king’s daughter. If you don’t bring them all home, you will be hanged.”

Next morning Jock set out with twenty-four hares and a crippled one. He played them such a lovely song on his bagpipe that they all danced round him and no one left him. That night he brought them all home. The crippled one could not walk, and he took it up in his arms and carried it. So the King gave Jock his daughter, and they lived happily ever after.