The Maiden Fair and the Fountain Fairy

Long, long ago a drover courted and married the Miller¹ of Cuthilldorie's only daughter. The drover learned how to grind the corn, and so he set up with his young wife as the Miller of Cuthilldorie when the old miller died. They did not have very much money to begin with, but an old Highlander² lent them some silver, and soon they did well.

By and by the young miller and his wife had a daughter, but on the very night she was born the fairies stole her away. The wee thing was carried far away from the house into the wood of Cuthilldorie, where she was found on the very lip of the Black Well. In the air was heard a lilting:

 

"O we'll come back again, my honey, my hert,

We'll come back again, my ain kind dearie;

And you will mind upon a time

When we met in the wood at the Well so wearie!"

The lassie grew up to be by far the bonniest lass in all the countryside. Everything went well at the mill.

One dark night there came a woodcock with a glowing tinder in its beak³, and set fire to the mill. Everything was burnt and the miller and his wife were left without a thing in the world. To make matters worse, who should come along next day but the old Highlander who had lent them the silver, demanding payment.

Now, there was a wee old man in the wood of Cuthilldorie beside the Black Well, who would never stay in a house if he could help it. In the winter he went away, nobody knew where. He was an ugly goblin, not more than two and a half feet high.

He had been seen only three times in fifteen years since he came to the place, for he always flew up out of sight when anybody came near him. But if you crept cannily⁴ through the wood after dark, you might have heard him playing with the water, and singing the same song:

 

"O when will you come, my honey, my hert,

O when will you come, my ain kind dearie;

For don't you mind upon the time

We met in the wood at the Well so wearie?"

Well, the night after the firing of the mill, the miller's daughter wandered into the wood alone, and wandered and wandered till she came to the Black Well. Then the wee goblin gripped her and jumped about singing:

 

"O come with me, my honey, my hert,

O come with me, my ain kind dearie;

For don't you mind upon the time

We met in the wood at the Well so wearie?"

With that he made her drink three double handfuls of witched water, and away they flew on a flash of lightning. When the poor lass opened her eyes, she was in a palace, all gold and silver and diamonds, and full of fairies.

The King and Queen of the Fairies invited her to stay, and said she would be well looked after. But if she wanted to go home again, she must never tell anybody where she had been or what she had seen.

She said she wanted to go home, and promised to do as she was told.

Then the King said:

"The first stranger you meet, give him oatmeal."

"Give him oatcakes," said the Queen.

"Give him butter," said her King.

"Give him a drink of the Black Well water," they both said.

Then they gave her twelve drops of liquid in a wee green bottle, three drops for the oatmeal, three for the oatcakes, three for the butter and three for the Black Well water.

She took the green bottle in her hand, and suddenly it was dark. She was flying through the air, and when she opened her eyes she was at her own doorstep. She slipped away to bed, glad to be home again, and said nothing about where she had been or what she had seen.

Next morning, before the sun was up, there came a rap, rap, rap, three times at the door. The sleepy lass looked out and saw an old beggar man, who began to sing:

 

"O open the door, my honey, my hert,

O open the door, my ain kind dearie;

For don't you mind upon the time

We met in the wood at the Well so wearie?"

When she heard that, she said nothing, and opened the door. The old beggar came in singing:

 

"O gie me my oatmeal, my honey, my hert,

O gie me my oatmeal, my ain hind⁵ dearie;

For don't you mind upon the time

We met in the wood at the Well so wearie?"

The lassie made a bowl of oatmeal for the beggar, not forgetting the three drops of water from the green bottle. As he was supping the meal the old beggar vanished, and there in his place was the big Highlander who had lent silver to her father, the miller, and he was singing:

 

"O gie me my oatcakes, my honey, my hert,

O gie me my oatcakes, my ain kind dearie;

For don't you mind upon the time

We met in the wood at the Well so wearie?"

She baked him some fresh oatcakes, not forgetting the three drops from the wee green bottle. He had just finished eating the oatcakes when he vanished, and there in his place was the woodcock that had fired the mill, singing:

 

"O gie me my butter, my honey, my hert,

O gie me my butter, my ain kind dearie;

For don't you mind upon the time

We met in the wood by the Well so wearie?"

She gave him butter as fast as she could, not forgetting the three drops of water from the green bottle. He had only eaten a bite, when he flapped his wings and vanished, and there was the ugly wee goblin that had grabbed her at the Black Well the night before, and he was singing:

 

"O gie me my water, my honey, my hert,

O gie me my water, my ain kind dearie;

For don't you mind upon the time

We met in the wood by the Well so wearie?"

She knew there were only three other drops of water left in the green bottle and she was afraid. She ran fast as she could to the Black Well, but who should be there before her but the wee ugly goblin himself, singing:

 

"O gie me my water, my honey, my hert,

O gie me my water, my ain kind dearie;

For don't you mind upon the time

We met in the wood by the Well so wearie?"

She gave him the water, not forgetting the three drops from the green bottle. But he had scarcely drunk the witched water when he vanished, and there was a fine young Prince, who spoke⁶ to her as if he had known her all her days.

They sat down beside the Black Well.

"I was born the same night as you," he said, "and I was carried away by the fairies the same night as you were found on the lip of the Well. I was a goblin for so many years because the fairies were scared away. They made me play many tricks before they would let me go and return to my father, the King of France, and make the bonniest lass in all the world my bride."

"Who is she?" asked the maiden⁷.

"The Miller of Cuthilldorie's daughter," said the young Prince.

Then they went home and told their stories over again, and that very night they were married. A coach and four came for them, and the miller and his wife, and the Prince and the Princess, drove away singing:

 

"O but we're happy, my honey, my hert,

O but we're happy, my ain kind dearie;

For don't you mind upon the time

We met in the wood at the Well so wearie?"