ENGLISH FAIRY TALES - 43 folk and fairy tales from old England

Book excerpt: This volume contains 43 English folk and fairy tales. Stories like: “Tom Tit Tot”, “The Three Sillies”, “The Rose Tree”, “The Old Woman and Her Pig”, “How Jack Went to Seek His Fortune”, “Mr. Vinegar”, “Nix Nought Nothing” and many, many more. Many of the tales in this volume, as in similar collections from other European countries, are what the folklorists call Drolls, or a short comical sketch. They serve to justify the title of “Merrie England” and mostly originate from the puritan era (1649 – 1660), a title which used to be given to England, indicating the unsuspected capacity for fun and humour among the English. The story of Tom Tit Tot, which opens the collection, is unequalled among all other folk-tales, for its combined sense of humour and dramatic power. But why call them FAIRY STORIES? One cannot imagine a child saying, 'Tell me a folk-tale', or 'Another nursery tale, please, grandma'. The words 'Fairy Tales' must accordingly be taken to include tales in which occurs something 'fairy', something extraordinary--fairies, giants, dwarfs, speaking animals. It must be taken also to cover tales in which what is extraordinary is the stupidity of some of the actors, as is so common in moral tales. So take some time out and travel back to a period before television, or even radio for that matter, when families would gather around a crackling and spitting hearth and granddad or grandma, or an uncle or aunt, would delight and captivate their audience with stories passed on to them from their mothers, fathers and grandparents before them. YESTERDAY'S BOOKS FOR TODAY'S CHARITIES 10% of the PROFIT from the sale of this book will be donated to Charities. ================= TAGS: Fairytales, folklore, fairy, tales children’s stories, faerie, classic stories, English, England, faerie, tales, children, classic fairy tales, antique fairytales, something extraordinary, fairies, giants, dwarf, dwarves, speaking animals, grandma, grandpa, magical, comical, stupid, stupidity, morals, moral tales, old and forgotten, rare, prince's trust, Tom Tit Tot, Three Sillies, Rose Tree, Old Woman and Her Pig, How Jack Went to Seek His Fortune, Mr Vinegar, mister vinegar, mrs vinegar, Nix Nought Nothing, Jack Hannaford, Mouse and Mouser, Cap o' Rushes, cap o’,cap of rushes, Teeny-Tiny, Jack and the Beanstalk, Three Little Pigs, Master and His Pupil, Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse, Jack and his Golden Snuff-Box, Three Bears, goldilocks, Jack the Giant Killer, Henny-Penny, Childe Rowland, Molly Whuppie, Red Ettin, Golden Arm, Tom Thumb, Mr Fox, Lazy Jack, lazy,Johnny-Cake, Earl Mar's Daughter, Mr Miacca, Whittington and his Cat, Strange Visitor, Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh, Cat and the Mouse, Fish and the Ring, Magpie's Nest, Kate Crackernuts, Cauld Lad of Hilton, cold lad, Ass, Table, Stick, Fairy Ointment, Well at the World's End, Master of All, Three Heads of the Well,