Tuesday, May 6, 2008

The Paddo

A poor widow was one day baking bannocks, and sent her dochter wi' a dish to the well to bring water. The dochter gaed, and better gaed, till she came to the well, but it was dry. Now, what to do she didna ken, for she couldna gang back to her mother without water; sae she sat down by the side o' the well, and fell a-greeting. A paddo [frog] then came loup-loup-louping out o' the well, and asked the lassie what she was greeting for; and she said she was greeting because there was nae water in the well.

"But," says the paddo, "an ye'll be my wife, I'll gie ye plenty o' water."

And the lassie, no thinking that the poor beast could mean anything serious, said she wad be his wife, for the sake o' getting the water. So she got the water into her dish, and gaed away hame to her mother, and thought nae mair about the paddo, till that night, when, just as she and her mother were about to go their beds, something came to the door, and when they listened, they heard this sang:

O open the door, my hinnie, my heart,
O open the door, my ain true love;
Remember the promise that you and I made,
down i' the meadow, where we twa met.

Says the mother to the dochter, "What noise is that at the door?"

"Hout," says the dochter, "it's naething but a filthy paddo."

"Open the door," says the mother, "to the poor paddo." So the lassie opened the door, and the paddo came loup-loup-louping in, and sat down by the ingle-side. Then he sings:

O gie me my supper, my hinnie, my heart,
O gie me my supper, my ain true love;
Remember the promise that you and I made,
Down i' the meadow, where we twa met.

"Hout," quo' the dochter, 'wad I gie a filthy paddo his supper?"

"O ay," said the mother, "e'n gie the poor paddo his supper." So the paddo got his supper; and after that he sings again:

O put me to bed, my hinnie, my heart,
O put me to bed, my ain true love;
Remember the promise that you and I made,
Down i' the meadow, where we twa met.

"Hout," quo' the dochter, "wad I put a filthy paddo to bed?"

"O ay," says the mother, "put the poor paddo to bed." And so she put the paddo to his bed. (Here let us abridge a little.) Then the paddo sang again:

Now fetch me an axe, my hinnie, my heart,
Now fetch me an axe, my ain true love;
Remember the promise that you and I made,
Down i' the meadow, where we twa met.

Well, the lassie chappit aff his head; and no sooner was that done, than he started up the bonniest young prince that ever was seen. And the twa lived happy a' the rest o' their days.

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