A boy taken by a sinister magician to be his apprentice esca...
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1969.195.B1
Original Tape ID
Summary
A boy taken by a sinister magician to be his apprentice escapes with his father's help and marries a princess.
A fisherman and his wife raised a foundling baby as their own. When the boy was about thirteen, they saw a captain on a ship throwing seven fiery balls. He came ashore and asked if he could have the boy for a year, then a further year, saying he would teach him many tricks. When the boy didn't return, the father went in search of him and got a job as the captain's gardener. A horse in the stable spoke to him: it was his son. He removed the halter and took the horse down to the river, and they escaped. They made some money from the son's ability to take on any form, but the father was tricked and the son taken back as a horse in the captain's stable.
The son escaped again by turning into a salmon, then a hawk, but the captain turned into an otter then an eagle. The hawk went down a castle chimney into a girl's room and turned into a ring on her finger. Three men offered to build a castle in one night, in return for the ring. Following the boy's instructions, the girl agreed. The castle built, she asked for a great bonfire and threw the ring in. The men turned into water to put the fire out. The boy disposed of the men by more shape-changing, and married the girl. The last time the storyteller was there he got a piece [sandwich] at the back door and a cup of tea.
Recording Location
County - Perthshire
Parish - Blairgowrie
Village/Place - Blairgowrie
Language
English
Genre
Collection
Classification
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good