The Giant with the Golden Hair of Knowledge

This is a well-known popular story in my time among the travelling folk. Some had different versions from others. This version is rather long, but it’s one I liked most. Old Johnnie MacDonald told me … he says, ‘You go fir tobacco tae me, I’ll tell ye a story.’ So I walked two miles into Coupar Angus for an ounce of tobacco, walked two miles back, and that’s the story he told me … thirty years ago, easy. It took him two nights. Johnnie MacDonald was a cripple who looked after other travellers’ children (and horses) while the parents were out working or hawking, in return for his keep.

    

MANY years ago in a faraway country there once lived a king. The king had married late in life, he had married a young princess from another country and they had a great wedding, it went on for many days and everyone was very happy for the king. But time passed by, and the king be getting up in years when he thought and wondered and worried why he wasn’t going to have any children. He talked it over with his queen.

‘Well,’ she said, ‘Ir Lordship, it would be lovely if we cuid hev a child,’ So she prayed and she asked and she went to all the wise women round the country for advice, how to have a child. But a year passed by and sure enough she had a child, a little baby girl – and the king was highly delighted when he found out – he preferred to have a son but he was quite pleased to have a little girl.

He called all the wise women that the queen had visited round his kingdom to come to the christening of his baby daughter, and they all came, twelve o’ them on the christening day. They had a great banquet and a great feast. Then lo and behold what the king had failed to remember – he had left one old woman whom the queen had visited out, completely forgot about her – she had never got an invitation to the christening of the king’s baby daughter.

And she was very angry. The king had sent a coach to pick up the old women to bring them to the palace, but she had to walk. And the farther she walked the angrier she got, by the time she reached the palace … she walked in, everybody was busy feasting and dining. And lo and behold the king and queen remembered they had forgotten about her. But maids and footmen brought her forward, brought her in, sat her down at the table and they brought a plate before her full of lovely things to eat. The old woman looked, and all the other old women that the queen had visited, the wise women of the country, all were sitting with their food on golden plates, and she had only a common plate.

She stood up and she says, ‘This is disgrace, Ir Majesty – why these auld friends of mine have golden plates and I jist have a common plate like a puir peasant – when you know that I am the most powerful woman among them all!’ The king said nothing. He knew he had made a mistake.

He said, ‘You were all called here today tae give my baby daughter yir blessings, youse bein the wise women of wir country.’

And everyone stood up and they gave blessing in turn, till they came to her, her turn. When she says, ‘No, I won’t give her no blessin, but will tell the truth: when your daughter comes eighteen years of age, she will marry the son of a poor fisherman! She will marry the son of a common fisherman who wis born the very same evening, the same evening an the same night under the same star as yir daughter!’ And like that she was gone – she disappeared as quick as she came. Everybody was upset. The king was worried, so was the queen.

So after the banquet was finished and all the old women went on their way, the king drew his queen beside him and he said, ‘That auld woman is very powerful, she’s the most powerful wisest woman in the whole kingdom an I wouldna like tae go against her in ony way. Prob’ly she’s jist angry because we left her out of the invitation. But,’ the king said to his queen, ‘just tae be on the safe side, we mus find this son of this fisherman an we must take im, destroy him so that he’ll never mairry wir daughter – because I’m not havin my baby daughter marry the son of a poor fisherman!’

So he sent couriers all over the country searching and seeking there and searching here and seeking there, wherever they went asking about the new baby boy that was born the same time as the princess, on the same night under the same star. But they were gone for months and days and they returned haggard and hungry, but they never found the baby that was born on the same day as the princess.

The king said, ‘It must be … the auld woman is too powerful tae tell any lies – we must find this boy! So, if youse can’t do it, I’ll jist hev to do it myself!’ So the next day the king went on his way on horseback, dressed in common clothes. And he rode for days and he rode for weeks his ownself till he came hungry and tired one day to the seaside.

Beside the sea was a little cottage, a few hens scratching about, but there wasn’t a soul about. And he looked down the shoreside, there was a fisherman casting his net in the water and the king could see that he was having very little success. Every time he threw his net in, he pulled it in, it was empty. (In these bygone days they just cast their net off the shoreside to see if they could bring in any fish.) So the king was kind of curious when he saw that the fisherman was casting the net so many times and getting nothing. He tied his horse to a tree, he walked down.

He said to the fisherman, ‘You’re not havin much luck!’

‘No,’ the fisherman said, ‘I’ve had no luck for months. I’ve had no luck … five months ago was the last luck I had.’

King said, ‘Five month ago? That seems a long time.’

‘Well,’ he said, ‘the last luck I had was five month ago, an at this same spot: I cast ma net, it was full o’ beautiful fish. An you believe me,’ he says to the king, not knowing it was the king, ‘it was a lucky night fir me in more ways an one – because whan I landed home wi as much fish as I cuid carry – sure enough, my wife had given birth tae a baby son!’

And then the king knew, this must be … the king calculated in his own head – he knew that his own little daughter was only five months old by this time. He says to the fisherman, ‘I’m a traiveller on my way an I’m very hungry; if you could spare a drink or somethin tae eat I would pay you well for it.’

And the fisherman said, ‘well, I have little tae spare, but, stranger, ye’re welcome tae anything I hev.’ So the fisherman gathered up his net, carried it on his back and walked up the shore till they came to the little cottage.

The king took his horse, led it round by the house and tied it once more to a tree, and he walked into the little cottage. Poor humble little cottage, just a fire, a table and a couple chairs, but sitting beside the fire was the most beautiful young woman this king had ever seen, even as pretty as his own queen but she was in rags. On her lap was a bonnie wee baby boy and she was sitting singing to him. She stood up, put the baby into an old-fashioned wooden cradle and it just lay there kicking its feet as happy as could be.

And the king looked down, he saw the most beautiful boy he’d ever seen in his life and he thought in his own mind, ‘This must be it.’

‘We have little to spare, stranger,’ says the fisherman’s wife, ‘but we’ll give ye half o’ what we’ve got.’ So she brought him some ale and some bread and cheese, she shared it with him.

And the king sat, he talked for a long long while and he said, ‘Ye hev a lovely baby boy there.’

‘Yes,’ she said, ‘we hev a lovely baby boy.’

‘How old is he?’ said the king.

She says, ‘Five month.’

‘When was he born?’ said the king.

‘Five months ago.’ she said.

‘Was it night or day-time?’ said the king.

She said, ‘He wis born at night, twelve o’clock at night – midnight.

‘Oh,’ said the king, ‘I see. Well, you know, I’m a very rich man, and my wife and I has no children, I would love to have that baby boy. I would give ye anything ye want,’ because the king had plenty money with him. His saddle-bags were full o’ money, he carried them on his way. ‘I wad give ye anything you want – I wad give ye as much gold that’ll keep ye fir a lifetime, you can buy yirsel new nets, you can buy yirsel a boat – if ye’d only give me that baby boy. An I’ll rear him up tae be my own son, when he’s a grown man he’ll come back an see ye.’

So the fisherman and his wife were very sad about this; they loved their little baby son but they were so poor … They thought about all the wonderful things they could do with all the money, and them being young themselves they knew they could maybe get another baby, but they would never get a chance like this to get as much money; so they finally consented to give the king the baby. The king walked out to his horse to his saddle-bags, he took two bags of gold and he put them on the table in front o’ the fisherman and his wife – they had never seen as much money in their life. The fisherman’s wife was kind o’ crying and sad, but she rolled it in a shawl, she put it in the cradle and she gave the king the baby in the cradle.

He took the old wooden cradle and the baby, placed it on his saddle and bade the fisherman and his wife ‘good-bye’, went on his way. ‘Now,’ he said to himself, ‘I have the baby an I’ll make sure that this baby … who is born the same night wis foretold by one of my great women inmy country, who is a great seer and the auldest even though the ugliest one, has always told truth ….’ He rode on for many miles and he’s wondering how, the best way to dispose of the baby, would he leave it in the forest to be destroyed by wild animals, or what would he – he could not have the heart to take a knife or a dagger and kill it … and as he’s making up his mind the best way to dispose of the baby his horse was dandering on, and sure enough he came to a little lake surrounded by trees.

The king looked all around, there was not a soul to be seen – it was just a little lake in the hills and from the lake was a river floating down through the forest, and the king looked all around – he never saw a single huntsman or a soul. He says to himself, ‘This is the very place tae get rid o’ the baby.’ So he took the cradle and the baby – as hard as he could swing – he flung it right out into the middle o’ the little lake. He felt it kind o’ sad, but he turned his back to the lake and he on his horse, he made on his way. ‘At last,’ he said, ‘he is gone, he’ll drown in the lake.’

But as the king made his way home to his own palace, little did he know that these old people who made these cradles of solid oak made them real, had made them good and they were watertight. And the cradle just floated like a little boat, round and round the lake it went and round and round the lake with the current, and the baby’s still lying as dry as could be. The cradle floated on its way down the river, over rocks, down through bankings, down little streams, down it went, it travelled for over a mile and lo and behold – in it floated to a miller’s dam!

This miller had a mill and he used the water coming from the river to turn his mill wheel, and behind the wheel was a dam which collected the water to give more force. And this particular day the miller was out with a long rake, a long pole, he’s pulling leaves and bits o’ sticks that come down the river from his wheel, big wooden wheel that drove the mill. When the first thing he sees coming floating down the dam was a cradle. The miller stood and he scratched his head, he knew it was a cradle and he saw there was something inside; and he rushed round, the cradle circled two or three times round the dam and he took his long pole, he pulled the cradle out. He lifted it up and he looked in – there lo and behold was the most beautiful little baby he’d ever seen in his life, a wee boy lying as quiet and content as if it was just in its mother’s house.

The miller didn’t know what to do, he’s thunderstruck, ‘Where in the world …’ The miller knew that this led to a lake in the hills, he knew the river because he had followed it many times, ‘but where in the world,’ thought the miller, ‘would this come from? Someone must have abandoned it, mebbe a coach overturned an it fell in the river.’ He rushed back to his wife; they never had any children of their own. They weren’t very old people, just middle-aged. And he said, ‘Luik, wife, what I’ve got in the dam!’

‘Oh dear,’ said his wife, ‘a baby! Where in the world did it come from?’

He said, ‘It cam down the river from the lake an I caught it in the dam.’

The wife lifted it out and it started to giggle, she ran into the house with it and placed the cradle by the fire. ‘Husband,’ she says, ‘ye better make yir way back up the river, because mebbe the’re a coach overturned an the people are prob’ly hurt.’

The miller said, ‘Yes, you take care o’ the baby an I’ll do the rest.’ So the miller walked up the river as far as he could, for over nearly two miles till he came to the lake, and he searched round the lake, he searched all round – he looked for wheel tracks – but lo and behold he never saw a soul. All he saw was the mark of a horse’s feet on the ground round the lake: he saw where the horse came in, he saw where the horse went out on the soft earth on the lake; he knew that someone then had thrown the baby in. He walked back to his wife and he told her.

‘Well,’ she says, ‘if someone abandoned it, they must hae put it in the lake … it must be fir me and you, so we’ll keep it.’ And keep it they did. They kept the baby for eighteen long years, for eighteen long years they kept the baby. It grew up like their own son, a beautiful young man, handsome young man, tall and fair; and he worked from the day he was five years old with his daddy in the mill, he never knew who he was, he just called them his ‘Daddy’ and his ‘Mammy’.

But lo and behold after eighteen years had passed, one day the same king who was getting up in his years now, was very old, had gone out with his huntsmen on a boar hunt. He’d hunted for many many days and for many many miles, and the king not being as able to keep up with the rest o’ the huntsmen felt kind o’ tired, he stopped for a rest. And the huntsmen left him and he got lost, he got lost and never knew what way the huntsmen went.

So he travelled on, he wandered on here and there trying to make his mind, find his huntsmen, when lo and behold the first thing he came to was a mill. He saw the mill-wheel go round and he saw the miller’s dam. ‘At last,’ he said, ‘I’ve found some habitation, someone must know here, there must be someone lives here.’ So he rode his horse up to the front o’ the mill, and the miller as usual was busy working in front o’ the mill wheel, cleaning the leaves and sticks away from the dam to let the wheel turn round. The king slowly got off his horse, and the miller looked round. But now the king was dressed in his finery – the miller knew who it was!

The miller went down on his knees and he said, ‘Ir Majesty, what can I do for ye?’

The king said, ‘I’m lost. Have ye seen any of my couriers or my people or ma huntsmen?’

‘No, Ir Majesty,’ says the miller, ‘My majesty the King, I have not seen anybody here fir days. Won’t you come in an rest fir a while?’ So he rushed the king into the kitchen into his little house, bade him ‘sit doon bi the fire’, called fir the woman to fetch the king something to drink. The king was really tired and hungry and weary. Then lo and behold in walks this young man.

And he turns round, the miller says to him, ‘Go and take care of the king’s horse!’ The young man bowed to the king and walked backwards out through the door.

And the king looked – he’d never seen a more handsome or beautiful young man in his life. Then the young man walked back into the house once more, he said, ‘That is Ir Majesty’s horse tooken care of, Father,’ an he sat down by the fireside.

The king talked to the miller and the wife brought him something to eat, something to drink, and the king was quite pleased. ‘I’ll get your horse ready whenever you feel like it,’ said the young man.

And the king said, ‘That is a lovely young son you’ve got. I’ve never seen one look so clever an so intelligent.’

‘Well, tae tell you the truth, Ir Majesty, I cannot lie to you,’ he said, ‘he’s not wir son.’

The king said, ‘Not yir son?’

‘No,’ said the miller, ‘he’s not wir son. Ir Majesty, many people we hev deceived along the way for eighteen years, but, Ir Majesty, we couldn’t deceive you an tell you a lie because you are our king – he’s not wir son.’

‘Well, if he’s not your son,’ said the king, ‘is he yir brother or yir relation o’ some kind, or yir nephew?’

‘No,’ said the old miller, ‘tae tell you the truth, Ir Majesty, it’s a funny story – eighteen years ago I found him floatin in the dam in a cradle.’ Then the king remembered! ‘And that,’ said the old man, ‘is the same cradle by the fireside – we’ve never partit with it – that’s his cradle.’

And the king looked and the king saw: this was the same cradle he got from the fisherman. The king was upset in a terrible way, he didn’t know what to do! He knew now that the young man was alive and strong and good-looking, as beautiful a young man as he’d ever seen in his life. The king thought, he raked his head for a plan, how he was going to get rid of this young man he had no idea. He knew now that it was the fisherman’s son he had thrown in the dam eighteen years before. Then he said to the miller, ‘Has yir son ever rode on a horse?’

‘No,’ said the miller, ‘my son has never had the pleasure of ridin a horse.’

‘Well,’ said the king, ‘I’m very tired an I wondered if he’d take a message fir me to the palace – tae get somebody tae bring a coach because I’m not able to ride my horse back that long long distance? I wonder if you would ask him, would he take my horse – it’s quite gentle – all he needs tae do is sit on its back, jist guide it, as it’ll take him back tae the palace, there they’ll find a coach to bring me home.’

Of course, Ir Majesty,’ said the miller, ‘my son will do that fir you!’

He called to his son and told him, ‘You must take a message to the palace. And the king shall stay here at the mill with me till you return with a coach to bring him back, because he doesn’t feel too good to ride his horse. Do you think ye could manage tae ride the king’s horse to the palace?’

And the king said, ‘Remember now, it’s a long way from here, it’s prob’ly two days’ journey.’

And the young man said, ‘I’m sure I’ll manage, Ir Majesty, I’ve never been on a horse, but I’ve a good idea how to get there. I’ll surely find my way.’

So the king calls for a paper and a quill and some ink; he writes her a letter, seals it and gives it to the young man, says, ‘You take this to the queen! When you arrive there to the queen with it, you’ll be well rewarded.’

The young man bids his father and mother, the old miller, ‘Good-bye, good day’, and he does the same to the king. He takes the king’s horse, he rides on, and he rides and rides and rides for many hours, he came to the forest. He’d never been this way before and lo and behold – he got lost! He got lost in the forest and he didn’t know in the world what direction to take to the palace or to the big town where the palace was, but he’d worked hard that morning and he was tired. He came to this little path, led the horse down, and sure enough in the middle o’ the forest he came to a little cabin. He got off and tied up the horse. He walked to the cabin but there was not a soul to be seen – it was empty. There was a fireplace, a table and some chairs in the cabin, some sheepskins and some goatskins on the floor, plenty firewood by the fireside.

So the young man went out, he took the saddle off the horse, took the bridle off, got the reins and tied it round the horse’s neck, and tied it to a tree, gave the horse enough room so’s it couldn’t escape to eat some grass, keep it alive. So after he saw that the horse was cared for and couldn’t escape, could reach as much grass that would keep it for a few hours, the young man went in by the fireside, kindled up the fire; and he’d carried a few pieces o’ meat and scones and things that his mother had given him to see him on his journey, he sat by the fireside and had a meal. Then wearied and tired he gathered some o’ the skins, he lay down by the fireside and fell asleep.

Now, unknown to the young man this cabin in the forest was owned by many robbers, about five or six who robbed and stole and thieved all over the country, and they always disappeared into the forest, they stayed in this cabin. And lo and behold they were all away out thieving and stealing, then they came back one by one; when they came in one by one they came quietly, because they saw the horse tied up to the tree outside and they wondered who it was in their cabin. They came in very carefully, they all sat down round the table and they started to drink the wine they had stolen or bought, wherever they got it. And sure enough there by the fireside lay this beautiful young man.

The chief o’ the robbers said, ‘We’ve got an intruder in wir cabin and I don’t know how we’re gaunna get rid of him. If he wakes up an finds … this place, then this place’ll be no good for us anymore.’ So they’re sitting talking and wondering what they’re going to do, when the oldest one who was a family man himself, who’d remembered way back many years ago that he too had sons that he’d probably forgotten about and he’d wondered if they had ever forgot about him, looked once more – pulled back the sheepskins that the young man had himself happed up with – and he saw a letter stuck in his belt! ‘I wonder,’ says the old man (he could read even suppose he was a robber) – he pulled the letter from the young man’s belt and he opened it, as carefully as he could. He read it aloud to the rest o’ the robbers, some who couldn’t read.

One was saying, ‘What dis it say, what dis it say? Who is he, what dis it say? Is he a king’s messenger, is he a king’s son, is he a prince?’

‘Not atall, not atall, not atall!’ said the robber chief. ‘Jist be quiet an I’ll read it to ye … He’s “a miller’s son”, an you know the miller as well as me – many times we passed by his place – he he’s been guid to us, he’s never interfered an never gien away wir secrets in any way … and he’s on his way tae his death!’

‘Tae his death?’ said the rest o’ the robbers.

‘Yes,’ he said, ‘at the present moment the king is at the mill, an this letter says that “when this young man arrives at the palace he’s got to be put to death immediately, because this is the one”.’

‘What in the name of creation,’ said the robbers, ‘what would a young man like that do to anybody to warran’ his death?’

The old one went to his bag, and he was a scholar, he’d carried many books and papers even suppose he was a robber; he had in his bag some quills and some ink, because he used to leave messages for people along the wayside. He took the letter that the king had wrote and he threw it in the fire. Then he wrote in a hand as good as the king: ‘When this young man arrives at the palace, he is the one that we want. And I want you to a-marry him immediately to my daughter the princess. (Signed) The King.’ He folded it, put it back, stuck it in the young man’s belt – and the young man’s still sleeping on. The robbers sat, they had their drink and they quietly went their way into the forest. The young man had slept through all this, he’d never known a thing.

He woke up, rubbed his eyes, wondered for a wee while where he was and then he remembered. Got up, tidied up the rugs that he’d used, put them back where he found them, made sure the fire wouldn’t do any harm (it was burned out by this time), walked out of the door, there was his horse standing quite contented full o’ grass … the robbers were gone. He put the saddle on the horse, and the bridle, climbed up on the horse’s back and made his way down through the forest. He hit the highway, the track going through the forest and he made his way on, he rode for miles. And sure enough at last he rode into the town where the palace was, the king’s palace.

He landed up to the king’s palace, the king’s castle; and these castles in the old days were just made o’ stone, a few hamlets and houses round about – they weren’t like the big towns ye see nowadays – there was a few guards walking about. He walked to see the queen. They asked him why he had come, and he said he had a message from the king, that the king had sent a message that he must deliver to the queen immediately. And when he showed the message to the guards signed by the king’s hand, they led him before the queen. He bowed to the queen, his horse was taken care of and he gave the letter to the queen.

And then the queen turned round, she smiled. She called for all the men and all the cooks and servants, says, ‘We’re gaunna have a great banquet. The king is off on a journey, he will be returning in a few days, but I have got strict orders that this young man has got to marry his daughter! Whatever he’s done for it I don’t know, but that’s his orders.’

And then they all prepared for the wedding: sure enough the young man was led and he was dressed in the finest o’ clothes, he met the princess, and the princess when she saw him just loved him immediately. They became good friends, they talked and they sat and they talked and they walked, and within two days they were married. And the banquet and the dancing went on for three days.

The king had waited and waited and waited for the return of the coach, but nothing turned up. But after three days the king got tired. Now, the miller had an old donkey and cart that he used for taking grain to the village, and the king finally made the miller yoke the donkey in the old cart; made him as comfortable as possible, and the miller and the king made their way on the journey. They travelled for two days. When they landed in the town at the palace all this great carry-on was going on. The king wondered what was the trouble. The miller wanted to go home, the miller wanted to return. People were singing, there were flags waving, everybody was happy, they were dancing in the street; the king wondered what was happening in the world! But they drove the old donkey and cart from the mill up to the palace, the king stepped out and the first person he met was the queen.

And the queen ran forward, she threw her arms round the king and welcomed him back. He said, ‘Did ye get my letter?’

‘Yes,’ she said, ‘I’ve got your letter.

‘Have you done my orders,’ he said, ‘what I told ye to do?’

‘Of course,’ she said, ‘Ir Majesty – an come and see them! Come an see them, don’t they look handsome?’

‘Look handsome?’ said the king. ‘What do ye mean?’

She says, ‘Aren’t they a handsome couple!’ And there was the young miller’s son walking in the garden, dressed in finery, his arm around the princess and they were the most beautiful couple you ever saw. The king was outraged at this.

He said, ‘My letter said, “This is the young man that was born under the same star as the princess – the son of a fisherman who was supposed to marry my daughter – which the old woman foretold eighteen years ago.” An my orders was “to put him to death”!’

‘Yir orders,’ said the queen, ‘was “to marry him immediately to the princess”.’

‘I wrote the letter,’ says the king, ‘I should know what I said!’

‘Well, Ir Majesty, I don’t know,’ said the queen, ‘but I’ve cairried yir orders to the hilt – there’s nothing we can do about it now! He is mairried to the princess.’

And the king was upset! He went into his room, he stood by himself for hours and hours and hours, and he sat, he sat and he thought and he thought and he thought. And then at last he called the young man before him, shook hands with him – kindly and nice as if there were nothing wrong. He says, ‘young man, you hev married my daughter.’

‘Yes,’ said the young man, ‘I’ve married yir daughter, an such a lovely princess she is; I’m proud tae marry yir daughter, I love her dearly.’

‘Well,’ he said, ‘if you love her so much as that, I’m her father …’

‘I know,’ says the young man, ‘ye’re her father, Ir Majesty the King, an I’m privileged to be married to your daughter, I’ll do everything within my power tae see that I make her happy,’ he said, ‘an you and the queen as well. Anything ye ask of me – it shall be done.’

‘Guid,’ says the king, ‘I’m proud of that. I’m a worried man,’ said the king.

And the young fisherman, who was very intelligent, said, ‘Why should you be worried, Ir Majesty, because you have everything under the sun, you’ve got a large kingdom an you’ve everything you need.’

He said, ‘I don’t have the knowledge of a king.’

‘Of course, Your Majesty, you have the knowledge of a king!’

‘But,’ he said, ‘I weary an I worry for something that I shall never have.’

‘What is it?’ said the young fisherman’s son.

He said, ‘Away, they tell me, in a faraway land miles from here is an island – I don’t know if it’s truth or fiction but I’ve never been there or none of my people’s ever been there – but they tell me that in that island there lives a giant, a great giant who is very kind and tender but who has the golden hair of wisdom, an anyone who possesses the hairs of his head, event three of them or four of them or just one, will have the wisdom that he has. And I would give my life, everything I own, to have three hairs of that giant’s head; if you would get them fir me, I would appreciate it very much.’

‘Well,’ says the young man, ‘if it’s possible, Ir Majesty, an it can be done … I’ll do my best – when would you like me to start?’

‘I would like you to start right away,’ said the king. He called for the queen and he called for the princess, the three o’ them sat together and the fisherman’s son sat there beside them. And the king told them the same story I’m telling you. The princess was very sad, she didn’t want her young man to go away on a long journey. But the king said, ‘it’s only fir a matter of time, my daugher, he’ll return an then you’ll have him fir life!’

The young fisherman’s son wanted to please the king as much as possible, he said, ‘I’ll go, Ir Majesty, I’ll start off – even tomorrow morning.’ So he spent one more night with the princess; and in the morning the king gave him the best horse in the stable, as much money as he wanted, and set him on his journey. And before he left he promised the king he would never come back, unless he could bring back the three golden hairs of wisdom that the king required.

Now this made the king very happy, for he knew in his heart – he’d never wanted from the beginning for a fisherman’s son to marry his daugher – he said to himself, ‘At last I’ve got rid of him, he’s gone for ever!’ He walked back to his palace and he sat in his chamber. The princess his daughter came in, she looked very sad. And the queen came in, she sat down, she really loved the fisherman’s son who was newly wed to her daughter the princess.

And the princess says, ‘Daddy, my husband he is gone on a journey – where did you send him to?’

‘Oh,’ he said, ‘my daughter, my baby, my lovely princess, I’ve sent him on a journey, he’s gone on to do something for me an he’ll return to you, it won’t be long before he comes back.’ But deep in his mind the king thought, ‘He is gone for ever, because I have heard there’s no one who hed ever went out to search fir the three golden hairs from the head of the Giant of Wisdom has ever returned!’

So the fisherman’s son left the palace that morning, bade ‘good-bye’ to his young wife the princess, the queen and the king, and he went on his way. And he rode and he rode and he rode and he rode for many, many miles, through forest and through towns and through villages for many many miles, for days and for days. The king had given him plenty money to carry him on his way. He’s asking everyone along the way, woodsmen, foresters, old people, young people, have they ever heard of the Giant with the Golden Hairs of Wisdom? But lo and behold he never got a clue.

But he travelled for many many miles on horseback, his horse was weary and so was he. He came down this track, and lo and behold over the mountain he saw a little village before him. He said to himself, ‘In that village there must be something to eat,’ because he was hungry and tired.

And he rode into the village, it was small, and when he rode into the first o’ the village he passed two–three houses and the houses seemed to be empty. He rode on to the centre, there was about twenty-five or thirty people all gathered round in the village green. And they were talking to each other, some were raising up their hands and they were speaking … when the young stranger rode up on horseback they all stopped and were quiet, never said a word. So the fisherman’s son said, ‘People, what’s yir trouble?’

And one old man with a long white beard came up, he stood beside the young fisherman’s son’s horse and he put his hand on the side of the saddle, said, ‘Stranger, where hev you come from?’

The fisherman’s son said, ‘I’ve come a long long way. Could you tell me something, are there any food in the village?’

‘We have food,’ said the old man, ‘we hev drink, but we are sad.’

‘Why are you sad?’ said the fisherman’s son. Everything seemed prosperous in the village. ‘Why are you sad?’

‘Well,’ says the old man, ‘look there before ye!’

And the fisherman’s son looked – there was a tree right in the middle of the green – all the people were gathered round it. A tree and the leaves were hanging down, them all withered and the tree was dying. The fisherman’s son thought this kind o’ queer, and he said, ‘Why is the tree so important?’

And the old man said, ‘Luik, my son, you don’t know, you have come from a faraway place, but this tree is so important to us. Where are you going? Where are ye bound for, stranger?’

And the young man said, ‘I am going to seek three hairs from the head of the Golden-haired Giant of Knowledge.’

‘Oh-dear-oh-dear,’ said the old man, ‘if only you could find im an tell us the truth!’

‘What truth?’ said the fisherman’s son.

‘Tell us why our tree, our favourite tree, has never borne fruit fir many years.’

What kind o’ fruit?’ said the fisherman’s son.

He said, ‘The Fruit of Health: this tree in our village, my son, has bore fruit fir many many years, an anyone who eats the fruit cuid live to be a hundred years old, never hev a headache, never have no trouble, never even have a hard day – but they would live fir evermore an feel well all their days! But suddenly the tree hes begun tae wither an the fruit is gone. Please, help us, stranger!’

‘Well,’ says the fisherman’s son, ‘I’m on my journey to seek the Giant with the Golden Hair of Knowledge, but if you would put me up fir the night an give me somethin to eat, I’ll prob’ly tell ye – I’ll prob’ly tell you on my way back when I return once more.’ So all the villagers gathered round, they made the fisherman’s son welcome. They gave him a place to stay, they gave him food. And he made a promise that when he returned he would find the truth of why their Tree of Health had never borne fruit.

So next morning, after a nice rest and some food and some breakfast, the young fisherman’s son rode on once more. And he rode and he rode and he rode, he travelled for many many miles and he never came across a village. He travelled over hill and over dale for many’s a day till he was hungry and weary and tired. At last, once more down a glen he comes, and lo and behold there once more is another village before him. He rides into the village, and lo and behold his horse was tired and weary and so was he. Once more when he lands in the village the little thatch cottages look empty, there’s not a soul to be seen so he rides through. And then there in a little green in the village are all the villagers, they’re gathered round a little stream that runs through the village. The young fisherman’s son stops. And they saw there was a stranger among their midst. An old woman with long grey hair walks up.

She says, ‘Where hev you come from, stranger?’

He said, ‘I’ve come a long way from here.’

‘Have you any news to tell us?’

‘News?’ said the fisherman’s son, ‘what kind of news do you require?’

‘Please help us!’ she said.

‘Well,’ said the fisherman’s son, ‘it’s me that seeks help, not you! I am hungry an I’m tired an weary – cuid you help me?’

‘If I help you,’ she said, ‘my son, wad ye help me?’

He said, ‘I’m seekin for the Island of the Giant with the Golden Hair of Knowledge.’

‘Oh,’ she said, ‘my son, I have heard many people talkin about him, but he lives in an island far away from here. But please, please, help us!’

‘And what’s yir problem?’ said the fisherman’s son.

‘It’s wir stream, my son,’ she said, ‘our stream – which used to run beautiful wine from our village – we enjoyed it an we drank from it, we enjoyed it and it never seemed to end, never seemed to stop. An we all gaithert here, we had wir sing-songs an we all enjoyed wir drink by the lovely Stream that Flowed Wine for evermore. But now hes it gone dry – no one knows what happened to our stream. Please, stranger, help us!’

And the fisherman’s son said, ‘If you help me, I’ll help you.’

‘What are you seekin, my son?’ says the old woman.

‘I’m seekin shelter, I’m seekin shelter fir the night, a place tae lie down an lay my head, because I’m weary,’ said the fisherman’s son; ‘an I’m bound fir the place of the Giant with the Golden Hairs of Wisdom.’ So they took him, they gave him a place to stay and they fed him; they made him promise in his return, they would pay him handsomely and reward him if he could find the secret – why their stream which had run with beautiful wine through the village had now dried up.

So next morning, true to his word, the fisherman’s son got up, saddled his horse, bade ‘good-bye’ to the villagers and rode on his way after a nice rest. And he rode and he rode and he rode, and he travelled and he travelled; they had given him some food to carry him on his way and he travelled for many many miles, till at last he rode till he came to the open sea – there were no more land. He landed on the beach, he had come to Land’s End. He rode around the beach for a while on horseback, jumped off his horse, led his horse looking for someone to talk to. But there was nobody there, not one single soul. So he led his horse who was tired and weary around the shoreside. And lo and behold the first thing he spied was an old man sitting in a boat, an old man with a long beard sitting in the boat.

He walked up to the old man, ‘Excuse me, sir,’ he said, ‘cuid you tell me, where am I?’

And the old man said, ‘My son, where have you come from?’

‘I have come from many many miles away … I’ve been riding for months an days an weeks without end. I have passed through many towns, I have passed through many villages, but now I seem to be at ma end of my place, I can go no further.’

‘Where are ye bound fir?’ says the old man.

‘I’m bound,’ says the fisherman’s son, ‘to seek the Giant with the Golden Hair of Knowledge.’

The old man said, ‘Luik, ye hev come tae the right place: I am the ferryman an there in the distance is yir island. An there in that island lives the Giant with the Golden Hair of Knowledge – but woe be tae ye, my son – it wouldna be safe for you to go there!’

‘Please,’ said the boy, said the fisherman’s son, ‘take me there! Take me there, I want to go!’

‘Your life will not be worth nothing if you go there,’ says the old man.

‘I want to go, I must go,’ said the fisherman’s son, I mus go!’

‘Well,’ says the old boatman, ‘I row across there sometimes an back an forward, but I don’t take any passengers, but I’m stuck to this boat an I jist can’t get out. I mus row tae the island, an row back an row forward two times a day, because I’m stuck here an I jist can’t leave this boat in any way. I don’t take any passengers – no one comes here anymore. But in that island lives the Giant an if you want tae go there, my son, I will take you; but before you go ye mus make me one promise!’

‘What would you want me to promise?’ says the young fisherman’s son.

‘Promise me one thing,’ he said: ‘find out fir me, why that I am stuck tae this boat an can never leave this row – that I mus row from the island back an forward, back an forward every day, every day non-stop – because I jist can’t leave this boat! An no one seems to want tae go there because it’s too dangerous for them.’

‘Take me,’ says the fisherman’s son, ‘an I will find the secret fir ye when I meet the Giant with the Golden Hairs of Knowledge!’

‘I will take you,’ said the old boatman, ‘but ye must give me one promise.’

‘I’ll promise ye anything,’ said the fisherman’s son, ‘when I find the Giant with the Golden Hair of Knowledge.’

‘Ye mus tell me,’ said the old boatman, ‘why I must sit here and row the boat from here to the island, row it back again day out an day in, I’m confined tae this boat for evermore, that I must never leave this boat for one minute, that I must row for eternity!’

‘I will tell you,’ said the fisherman’s son, ‘in one condition – that you row me!’

‘I will take ye there,’ said the old man, ‘but woe be tae ye, my son, what happens to ye – it’ll not be my fault!’

Many many hundred miles back behind him in the palace of the king, the princess is worried. Now her young man has been gone for many many days, for many many months; and the king is happy and the king is pleased, and the queen is worried because the queen loved her daughter, and she loved any man – if her daughter was happy so was she. The king rubbed his hands in glee after two months had passed, the king rubbed his hands in glee after three months had passed, the king rubbed his hands in glee after four months had passed – no return of the fisherman’s son! He said, ‘He’s gone fir evermore. I tried tae destroy him wonst, but the second time I have succeeded – he is gone for ever!’ But the fisherman’s son is not gone for ever.

He took his horse and he took this harness off it, he took the reins and he wrapped it around the horse’s neck, he tethered it out on a nice piece of grass. He said to the old boatman, ‘You will come fir me tomorrow.’

‘I’ll come fir ye tomorrow,’ said the old boatman.

‘I will spend one night in the Giant’s castle,’ he said.

‘You’ll never spend a lifetime in the Giant’s castle,’ says the old man, ‘your life won’t be worth nothing when you land there! But I’ll take ye.’

So after he’d taken care of his horse, the young man got in the boat and the old man rowed him across from the end of the land to this little island that sat out in the middle of the sea. He rowed across and he rowed across and he rowed to the beach: ‘There ye are, my youngman,’ he said, ‘it’s on yir own head what happens to ye frae now on. But I’ll be here tomorrow morning at the same time, an if ye miss me ye’ll have tae wait till I return again.’

The fisherman’s son jumped off the boat on this island and he walked up the beach. This was a funny island; there were trees, there were flowers, there were birds, there were animals, everything; and he walked farther and farther and the more he walked it got more beautiful. At last he walked for about five or six hundred yards into the middle of this little island, he came to a castle, the most beautiful old stone castle he’d ever seen. He said, ‘This is where I’m bound to go.’ And he walked up three stone steps to the great oak door. He knocked hard on the door because he wasn’t afraid, because he had come to do something for the king – and he made sure he was going to do it – suppose it cost him his life! He knocked again and then he heard footsteps coming.

Then lo and behold the door opened, out came a woman, a very old woman. But she was three times as big as the fisherman’s son! She was tall and thin with long grey hair and a long flowing dress on her that swept the floor – the fisherman’s son couldn’t even see her feet. The old woman was surprised when she saw the young man standing at her door, she rubbed her eyes, said, ‘My son, what are you doing here?’

He said, ‘Mother’ (he was very kindly this fisherman’s son), ‘mother, I hev come a long long way tae find you.’

‘Well,’ she says, ‘ye found me now but peril fir you it might be!’

‘Why?’ said the fisherman’s son. ‘I’ve only come fir three things; please, help me!’

And the old woman never saw a human being for many many years, alone she lived there on the island with her son the Giant with the Golden Hair who was out hunting for deer in his forest, and no one had ever come near his place. She said, ‘If my son finds you here, young man, your life won’t be worth nothing.’

‘Please, mother,’ said the fisherman’s son, ‘please help me! I have come a long long way to find the truth.’

‘What truth do ye want tae find?’

‘I want to find three hairs of your son’s head.’

She says, ‘Hairs of my son’s head is impossible tae get.’

‘Please, mother,’ he said, ‘help me; I’ve come a long long way.’

‘Well,’ she says, ‘come in.’ So she took him in and she gave him something to eat. ‘Now, sit down an tell me yir story.’

So the story he told the old woman is the same story I’m telling you, he said, ‘I’m jist a fisherman’s son an I married a young princess, her father sent me out tae seek three golden hairs from the Giant of Knowledge.

She said, ‘That is my son, and the’re nothing in the world that my son doesn’t know – he knows everything! He is giftit with the golden hair of knowledge.’

‘Mother,’ he said, ‘if ye cuid only get me three hairs from his head to bring back tae the king, I’d be happy to live with my bride the princess fir evermore.’

And the old woman felt sad for him, she says, ‘My son will be home in very few minutes, he’s out huntin. But what else dae ye seek?’

He said, ‘I seek … as I rode on my way I came to a village, in that village there is a tree an that tree bore the Fruit of Life; an all its people were happy to eat the fruit, they lived happy ever after, no one tuik any trouble, no one tuik any disease an no one ever suffered from nothin. But now the tree is barren an grows nothing anymore – I want to know the reason why.’

‘Oh,’ says the old woman, ‘I wouldn’t know about that, but my son would know.’

‘Then,’ he said, ‘I rode fir many many more miles an I came to another village; there in the village everyone was sad because they had a stream that beared pure wine, an everyone used to drink an enjoy the wine that ran through the stream – but now they are sad because the stream has gone dry.’

‘Nice,’ says the old woman, ‘but my son would know about that better than me.’

‘Then’ he said, ‘at the end of the land I came tae an auld boatman who took me here, who ferried me across. An he wonders why that he should be stuck in that boat, rows it back, foremost, back an foremos from the mainland tae the island with no passengers in it day out an day in?’

The old woman says, ‘I don’t know about that, but my son wad know.’ But she was busy talking to him when they heard what was like a thunderclap, she said, ‘He’s comin home!’ And the old woman was sitting in a high chair and her dress was hanging to the floor, ‘Climb in below my chair, son,’ she says, ‘before he finds ye!’

And the fisherman’s son, with the long dresses the old women wore in these days and the high chair which she’s sitting on, he climbed in below the chair and she pulled her old dress over the top o’ him. He sat there quite content, when who should walk in but a monstrous young giant with golden hair hanging down his back; but he never saw him, but he knew!

‘Mother,’ he said, ‘hev you made something fir supper – I’m hungry!’

‘Yes,’ she said, ‘my son, I’ve something fir supper for you, I’ve roastit …’ And he had a deer on his back, he threw the deer down on the floor. ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘son, I made ye supper.’

‘What … any trouble or anything happen while I been gone?’ he says. ‘Things seems queer around this place … hev you hed any visitors while I was gone?’

‘No, my son,’ she said, ‘no visitors. Only the aul boatman who has been …’

‘Oh,’ he said, ‘him; he’ll keep on rowin as long as … he’ll go on rowin his wey till the end of time.’

She brought forth a haunch of deer, roasted haunch o’ deer round the fire and she placed it before him, he ate it up. Then she brought a big flagon o’ wine. She said, ‘My son, you know you been gone fir a long time.’

‘Yes, Mother,’ he said, ‘I had a long hunt today, but I might be luckier tomorrow.’ And he sat by the fire after drinking three or four gallons o’ wine.

She says, ‘My son, you look tired and weary, come beside yir mother,’ because this old woman loved this son like nothing in the world, and she took him beside her. He sat on the floor and she sat on a high stool. His head only came to her knee, he placed his head on, and being him hunting all day and after a feast and a drink o’ wine, he fell sound asleep on his mother’s knee. She began to run her fingers through his golden hair, which was long and beautiful. And then she wapped one of the golden hairs round her finger, and she pulled it. And the Giant wakened up!

He said, ‘Mother, what hae ye been doin, you been pullin my hair!’

‘Oh, my son, I’m sorry tae wake ye up, but I had a terrible dream.’

‘Mother,’ he says, ‘what was yir dream?’

‘I dreamt, my son,’ she says, ‘a long way from here in the mainland far from our island there is a village an in that village there is a tree an that tree bore beautiful fruit, the Fruit of Health, and all these people loved that Fruit of Health, they enjoyed it. But now they are so sad because their tree is withering an dying.’

‘Ho, my Mother,’ he said, ‘if they only knew! If they only knew: there’s a wicked, wicked wicked wizard had cast a spell on that tree an put a padlock an chain round the roots; if they only knew – jist tae dig up the root o’ the tree an break the padlock – their tree would blossom for evermore. Please, let me sleep, Mother!’ he said, an he placed his head on his mother’s knee once more.

Now the old woman has one hair on her finger. She waited till the Giant fell asleep once more. She wrapped another hair round her finger and she pulled another hair from his head. The Giant woke up.

‘Mother!’ he said ‘what are ye pullin my hair fir?’

‘Oh, my son,’ she said, ‘while you were asleep I had another dream: I dreamt there’s another village many miles from the first one; an through that village there runs a beautiful stream o’ beautiful sweet wine, an now the stream has stopped the villagers are so upset – there’s no more wine fir them an they’re so sad! They would give anything in the world if their stream would run wine once more.’

‘Ha,’ says the Giant, ‘it’s quite simple! If they only knew: under the steppin stone in the well there is a frog an in that frog’s throat is a crust o’ bread thrown by a child in the well, stuck in the frog’s throat. If they dig up the steppin stone that leads to the stream an takes the crust from the frog’s throat – then their stream will run again for ever. But they’ll never know an no one’s gaun tae tell them!’

The wee laddie’s sitting in below the old woman’s dress and he’s hearing everything. The Giant stretched his feet out again by the heat o’ the fire and he laid his head upon his mother’s lap once more, then he fell asleep. When the old woman gathered another hair round her finger once more, and she pulled – he woke up.

‘Mother,’ he says, ‘stop pullin my hair!’

‘Oh, my son,’ she says, I had another wonderful dream.’

‘Mother,’ he said, ‘ye’ve hed better dreams an me! What’s your problem this time?’

‘Well,’ she said, ‘son, I had another dream an I think I won’t dream anymore tonight. But tell me: why is it that the auld boatman who rows across from our island tae the mainland back an forward, back an forward, although suppose he never takes you or takes me, hemus be confined tae that boat all his life an never can get a-free from it?’

‘Ha-ha-ha,’ said the Giant. ‘I know, but he’ll never know!’

‘But what’s the problem,’ said the old woman, ‘why has he got tae do this?’

‘Well,’ said the Giant, it’s quite simple: there’s no problem if he only knew, but he’ll never know by me; if only he would give a shot o’ the rows to the first person who comes in the boat, an give them a shot an let them row. When the boat leaves the beach – not in my island but on the mainland – an jump out, then the person who takes the oars will take his place, will be confined for evermore tae row back and forward till the end of eternity!’ And the Giant fell asleep once more.

When the Giant was asleep, the woman beckoned to the wee fisherman’s son – the Giant was asleep – ‘Now,’ she said, she took the three golden hairs from her finger – ‘take them carefully, luik after them an bring them back to the king. But remember – did ye hear what I told ye?’

‘I know,’ said the son, ‘I heard every word.’ The fisherman’s son rolled the hairs up in his hand, put them in his purse around his waist and he quietly stole away from the castle of the sleeping Giant with the Golden Hairs of Knowledge – for he knew he had done what he had set out to do. He walked for many miles till he came to the beach, by the time he reached the beach it was daylight.

There lo and behold was the old boatman waiting on the beach for him, the old boatman said, ‘Tell me, my son, hev you found the secret fir me, why I row this boat back and forward from side to side fir eternity?’

And the young man said, ‘Luik, auld boatman, after ye take me tae the mainland I’ll tell ye!’

‘Jump in, then,’ says the old man, and the young fisherman’s son jumped in the boat. The old man rowed back to the mainland and he jumped out. ‘Now,’ said the boatman, ‘tell me why I’m confined tae this for evermore!’

And the fisherman’s son said, ‘The Giant of Golden Knowledge says: “You are confined fir only one reason – the first person who comes here to ask you to row them across to the island, tell em you’re tired an give em a shot o’ the oars – when it leaves the beach on this side, jump out an you’ll be free for evermore! And the person who takes the oars will be confined tae the boat fir the rest o’ their life.”’

‘Guid,’ says the old boatman, ‘guid.’

He bade the old boatman ‘farewell’, goes back to his horse and his horse had eaten all the grass around where it was tied to, but it was still there. He takes the saddle, saddles his horse, puts the bridle on it, jumps on his horse’s back and rides back, because the old woman had given him a good meal in the Giant’s palace, he rides back. Lo and behold when he landed in the same village he had come to, the second village, there was the people once more gathered round the stream. And they’re all moaning and they’re very upset, why this stream was dry.

Up comes the old woman once more with the long grey hair, ‘Welcome back, stranger,’ she said, ‘did ye find your quest?’

‘I have found my quest, mother,’ he said.

‘Please,’ she said, ‘tell us an we’ll make you rich, we’ll give ye a donkey with as much gold as you can carry, if ye will only tell us why wir stream doesn’t run wine anymore!’

And the young man said, ‘I have been with the Giant of Golden Hair of Knowledge an he says: “Under yir steppin stone there is a frog, an in that frog’s throat is a crust o’ bread thrown by a careless child an he cannae swalla it; but you must retrieve the frog an take the piece o’ bread from his throat – wonst ye retrieve the bread yir stream will run again!”’

The old woman talked to some o’ the men, within seconds they lifted the flagstone, and there lo and behold was the frog. Sure enough they took the frog, they relieved the frog of a crust o’ bread in his throat and within seconds the stream was running most1 wine once more! And everybody in the village ran into it, they were diving into it, they were sprinkling it on their faces, they were drinking it, they were playing – the kids were swimming in it – the most beautiful wine of all! And the old woman said, ‘Stop, we must help our young stranger who has found the secret.’ She called once more for the donkey, loaded it with two bags of gold, she gave it to the young stranger, the fisherman’s son, to go on his way.

He took the donkey behind his horse with two bags o’ gold, he rode on and rode on for many days and many days and many days. At last he came to the first village, and lo and behold when he landed, sure enough there was the people gathered round the green once more. They’re weeping, they’re a-crying and the tree was getting withered, the leaves were falling off and it looked in a horrible state.

When he rode up the old man with the long white beard came, he said, ‘Welcome back, stranger, where have you been?’

He said, ‘I have been to the Island of the Giant with the Golden Hair of Knowledge.’

‘Have you found our secret, stranger?’ said the old man.

‘Yes,’ he said, ‘old man, I have.’

‘Why our tree doesn’t nourish the most beautiful fruit?’

Said the young fisherman’s son, ‘Take a spade an dig under the tree an you will find a chain an padlock around the root of yir tree. Break the padlock of the chain – then once more yir tree will blossom in life with Fruit of Health!’

No sooner said than done, three men ran with spades, they dug up under the tree and lo and behold there was the truth: under the tree was a chain and a padlock; they broke the chain, threw the chain away, covered the roots up once more. And lo and behold the amazing thing happened – the tree was blossomed in minutes – it was hanging with fruit! And the people were running, the children were running, they’re picking it off and they’re eating them. They’re happy and they’re clapping their hands.

And then the old man said, ‘Stop!’ and they all stopped. ‘We must thank our friend, the young stranger who has come here tae found the secret of our tree, we mus reward him handsomely.’ And then once more they called for another donkey, it was given two large bags of gold. Once more the fisherman’s son went on his way with two donkeys laden with four bags of gold.

He travelled on and he made his way back, all the way he had come, till at last after many days’ travel he landed back in the palace. And there was the queen and there was the princess to welcome him home. His donkeys were taken care of, his horse was taken care of, the four bags of gold were carried up and placed before the king. And the fisherman’s son walked up, from his purse he took out the three golden hairs of knowledge.

‘You are back,’ said the king.

‘I am back,’ said the fisherman’s son, ‘an I done yir quest: there is yir three golden hairs,’ and he put them in the king’s hand.

‘Where in the world did you find em?’ said the king.

‘I found them at Land’s End,’ said the fisherman’s son, ‘an after the Land’s End there’s an island, there lives in that island the Giant with the Golden Hair of Knowledge.’

‘But,’ said the king, ‘there’s only three hairs – that will only give me a little knowledge – it won’t give me all the Giant knows!’

‘Well,’ said the fisherman’s son, ‘if ye want any more knowledge, ye’ll hev to go and find it yirself, because I cam home to spend the rest o’ my life with my wife the princess.’

‘Well,’ says the king, ‘you have deserved it. But I myself will go, I will find the Giant with the Golden Hair of Knowledge through your directions.’

‘Go,’ said the young fisherman’s son, ‘you are welcome,’ and he told the king where to go. The princess was happy to see her young man back and she cuddled him and kissed him, and so was the queen. Now he had plenty gold.

The next day the king said he would go on his way, and himself, he was not content with three golden hairs, he wanted many many more. So he chose his best horse and he took as much gold that would carry him on his way. He left the queen and he left the young fisherman’s son and the princess to take care of the kingdom till he came home, and he rode on his way. The king rode for many many miles, he rode through the first village, he never saw the Tree of Fruit; he rode through the second village, he never saw the Stream of Beautiful Wine; and he rode till the End of the Land, all he saw was an old man in a boat.

He looked out and there was the island, ‘That,’ says the king, ‘is the place I want tae go to!’ And he says to the old man, ‘I leave my horse here if you will take me across there.’

‘Willingly,’ says the old boatman, ‘I’ll take ye across. But,’ he said, ‘I been rowin fir many many days an I’m tired; would ye do me one favour?’

‘I’ll do anything,’ said the king who was an aged man by this time, but was still fit and strong.

‘I been rowin all day,’ said the old man; ‘please, take a little shot of the oars an row us across tae the island!’

‘Sure enough!’ said the king and he spat on his hands. He jumped up in the front o’ the boat and he took the oars in his hands. And the minute he took the oars in his hands, the old boatman jumped out and walked away, left the king. And the king was left there for evermore, he rowed back and he rowed forward and he rowed back and he rowed forward, but he could never, never never get his hands away from the oars or he could never leave the boat.

The young fisherman’s son had his young queen, he became king after the queen had died, and he and his princess lived happy in their palace, they had many children. But the king still rowed on from time to time and of course, as the story says, he’s still rowing yet! And that is the end o’ my story.

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