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Published: 14 April 2009

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Rashie Coat from Selection of Scottish Short Stories

Rashie Coat was a King's daughter, and her father wanted her to marry, but she did not like the man he had chosen. Her father said she must marry this man, so she went to a hen-wife to ask her advice.
'Say you won't take him,' said the hen-wife, 'unless you're given a coat of beaten gold.'
Her father gave her a coat of beaten gold, but she didn't want the man for all that. So she went to the hen-wife again.
'Say you won't take the man unless you are given a coat made of feathers from all the birds of the air,' said the hen-wife.
So the King sent a man with a large basket of oats, who called to the birds of the air:
'Each bird take up a grain and put down a feather!'
So each bird took up a grain and put down a feather, and the feathers were made into a coat and given to Rashie Coat. But she didn't want the man for all that.
She went to the hen-wife and asked her what she should do.
'Say you won't take him unless you're given a coat and slippers made of rushes,' said the hen-wife.
The King gave her a coat and slippers made of rushes, but she did not want the man for all that. So she went to the hen-wife again.
'I can't help you any more,' said the hen-wife.
So Rashie Coat left her father's house and went far, and far and further than I can tell, till she came to another King's house.
'What do you want?' said the servants, when she went to the door.
'I would like to work in this house,' said Rashie Coat.
So they put her in the kitchen to wash the dishes, and take out the ashes.
When the Sabbath Day came, everyone went to the Kirk, but Rashie Coat was left at home to cook the dinner. While she was alone a fairy came to her, and told her to put on the coat of beaten gold and go to the Kirk.
'I can't do that,' she said. 'I have to cook the dinner'. The fairy told her to go and she would cook the dinner. So Rashie Coat said:

'One peat make another peat burn,
One spit make another spit turn,
One pot make another pot play,
Let Rashie Coat go to the Kirk today.'

Then she put on her coat of beaten gold, and went to the Kirk. There the King's son saw her and fell in love with her, but she left before everyone else, and he couldn't find out who she was. When she reached home, she found the dinner cooked, and nobody knew she had been out of the house.
The next Sabbath Day the fairy came again, and told her to put on the coat of feathers from all the birds of the air, and go to the Kirk, for she would cook the dinner for her. So Rashie Coat said:

'One peat make another peat burn,
One spit make another spit turn,
One pot make another pot play,
Let Rashie Coat go to the Kirk today.'

Then she put on her coat of feathers, and went to the Kirk.
Again she left before anyone else, and when the King's son saw her go out, he followed her. But she had already vanished, and he could not find out who she was. When she reached the kitchen, she took off her coat of feathers, and found the dinner cooked. Nobody knew she had been out at all.
The next Sabbath Day the fairy came once more, and told her to put on her coat of rushes and the slippers, and go to the Kirk while the dinner was being cooked. So Rashie Coat said:

'One peat make another peat burn,
One spit make another spit turn,
One pot make another pot play,
Let Rashie Coat go to the Kirk today.'

Then she put on her coat of rushes and the pair of slippers and went to the Kirk.
This time the King's son sat near the door. When she saw Rashie Coat slipping out before everyone else, he followed her at once, but again she was too quick for him, and was nowhere to be seen.
She ran home, but in her haste she lost one of her slippers. The Prince found the slipper, and sent a Royal Proclamation through all the country, announcing that he would marry whosoever could put on the slipper.
All the ladies of the Court, and their ladies-in-waiting, tried to put on the slipper, but it wouldn't fit any of them, nor the daughters of merchants, farmers and tradesmen who came from far and wide to try their luck. Then the old hen-wife brought her ugly daughter to try it on. She nipped her foot and clipped her foot, and squeezed it on that way. So the King's son said he would marry her.
He was riding away with her on horseback, and she behind him, when they came to a wood, and there was a bird sitting on a tree. As they rode by, the bird sang:

'Nipped foot and clipped foot
Behind the King's son rides;
But bonny foot and true foot
Behind the cauldron hides.'

When the King's son heard this, he flung the hen-wife's daughter off the horse, and rode home. He looked behind the cauldron in the royal kitchen and there he found Rashie Coat. He tried the slipper on her foot and it went on easily. So he married her and they lived happily ever after.