Jack tells tall tales to win his fortune.

Original Track ID

SA1969.195.A4

Original Tape ID

SA1969.195

Summary

Jack tells tall tales to win his fortune.

Lazy Jack's mother sent him to find work. He came to a castle, where the king was offering his daughter's hand in marriage and half the kingdom to anyone who could make him call him a liar. Jack told tall tales, with the king exclaiming in surprise, but declining to call him a liar. Jack told him a story about a fight between kings of the bees, in which he kicked a bee all the way to Spain. In the next story, Jack slipped down to the bottom of a paw mark made by his brother's dog and was lost for years; when his brother found him, he kicked Jack onto the peak of the moon. The man in the moon cut off the peak with his scythe and Jack rolled through the sky. His mother's swans caught him and flew with him until they became tired and couped him over [overturned him]. He landed up to his neck in a whinstone rock. He cut his own head off and sent it rolling down the path with a message to his brother to come and pull him out. A fox chased his head, but Jack managed to free himself and kicked the fox, until he had kicked nine cubs out of it, "and the worst fox's shite [excrement] is better than you, king."

"You're a liar!" said the king. So Jack got the daughter and half the kingdom.

Recording Location

Language

English, Scots

Genre

Story

Collection

SoSS

Classification

AT852

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good