Jack saves an enchanted cuckoo and it brings him singing lea...

Original Track ID

SA1976.62.A2; SA1976.62.B1

Original Tape ID

SA1976.062

Summary

Jack saves an enchanted cuckoo and it brings him singing leaves which delight the king, who makes Jack a rich man.

Jack, one of three brothers on a farm, was very lazy but loved animals. One day he rescued a cuckoo with a broken wing. It was an enchanted bird from a faraway country, and said that it would come back on 1st May and bring Jack a present. It was the custom in that country to take a present to the princess on her birthday, the first day of May. Jack had no money to buy a present, because his brothers never paid him for his work on the farm, but the cuckoo flew in with magic leaves in its beak. Jack gave them to the princess and they made beautiful music. The king said that if Jack could get more singing leaves he would make him a very rich man. The cuckoo came back to him at the end of the summer and told him it was really a prince and that only a princess's tear could restore him to his own shape. Jack took the cuckoo to the castle. The princess wept for joy and the tear that landed on its head turned it back into a handsome prince. The prince and the princess were married, the king got a whole tree of magic leaves, and Jack was made rich.

Duncan Williamson heard this story from old Johnny MacDonald twenty-five years before.

Recording Location

Language

Scots

Genre

Story Information

Collection

SoSS

Classification

AT432 AT554

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good