to him and kissed him and called him their own dear son, and he wakened, and told them all that the giant’s dochter had done for him, and of all her kindness. Then they took her in their arms and kissed her, and said she should now be their dochter, for their son should marry her.
And they lived happy all their days.
[Told by Miss Craig. Printed in “Revue Celtique”, t. iii, with variants by Prof. Köhler. Reprinted in “Custom and Myth”]
III.—Cap o’ Rushes.
Well, there was once a very rich gentleman, and he’d three daughters, and he thought to see how fond they was of him. So he says to the first, “How much do you love me, my dear?”
“Why,” says she, “as I love my life.”
“That’s good,” says he.
So he says to the second, “How much do you love me, my dear?”
“Why,” says she, “better nor all the world.”
“That’s good,” says he.
So he says to the third, “How much do you love me, my dear?”
“Why, I love you as fresh meat loves salt” says she.
Well, he were that angry. “You don’t love me at all,” says he, “and in my house you stay no more.” So he drove her out there and then, and shut the door in her face.
Well, she went away on and on till she came to a fen, and there she gathered a lot of rushes and made them into a cloak, kind o’, with a hood, to cover her from head to foot, and to hide her fine clothes. And then she went on and on till she came to a great house.
“Do you want a maid?” says she,
