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THE
BANBURY GROSS
SERIES

PREPARED FOR CHILDREN BY Grace Ruys

THE FAIRY GIFTS
AND

TOM HICKATHRIFT
 
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THE FAIRY GIETS
/ AND -
TOM FICKATHRIFT

' TLLVSTRATED BY
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RVBLISHED - BY. SATDENT'Y cr
ALDINE HOVSE: GTEASIERN: Sé
' 1895 -
 
To Jack.

Ww

|? you had an arm like Tom Hicka-
thrift’s,
You might not care for my Fairy Gifts ;
But you can’t kill Giants all day, you
know,

And the Fairies come, when the Giants

go.
G. R.
 
The Fairy Gifts.
NCE upon a time there was a widow
who had two daughters: the
eldest was so like her mother, both in
temper and in looks, that those who had
seen one had as good as seen both. They
were so proud and disagreeable that
nobody could live with them. The
youngest, who was the very pattern of
her father, for her goodness and pleasant
ways, was, besides, one of the prettiest
maids you could see.
The mother, as one might expect, had
a hearty affection for her eldest daughter,
and at the same time as hearty a dislike

for the youngest. She, poor child, must
Ze em PAULI AM
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THE FAIRY GIFTS. 15

needs take her meals in the kitchen, and
work hard all day and every day.

Among other things she had to go
twice a day to draw water from a well
quite half-a-mile from the house, and
carry back a great pitcher-full.

One day, while she was beside the
spring, a poor woman came by, and
begged to drink from her pitcher.
“Why, yes! good mother!” said the
maid. So she took her pitcher, and
rinsing it, drew some fair water from
the well, and held it up for the old
woman, that she might drink the more
easily.

When she had finished her draught,
the woman said to her, ‘‘ You are such a
kind, good maid, and your face pleases

me so well, that I must find a gift for
16 THE FAIRY GIFTS.

   

   
   
 
 

 

  

    
   

   

  
 
 
      
 

  
 

     

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you” (for she indeed was a fairy, who
had taken the form of a poor peasant
woman, so that she might find out
whether or no this was a good girl).

«« And this shall be my gift,” the fairy

went on, ‘that for every word you shall
THE FAIRY GIFTS. 17

speak, a flower or a jewel shall fall from
your lips.”

When she had reached home again,
her mother scolded her well for dawdling
so long on the way. ‘‘JI am very sorry,
mother,” said the poor child, <<‘ for being
late!” And as she spoke there fell from
her lips two roses, two pearls, and two
big diamonds.

“Why, how’s this ?” called her mother.
‘«¢What are all these pearls and diamonds,
and how came they here, my child?”
This, you must know, was the first time
her mother had ever spoken to her so
kindly.

The poor girl then told her mother
quite simply all that had happened, and
as she spoke a shower of sparkling stones

fell from her lips.

9B
 
THE FAIRY GIFTS. 19

      

    

 

 

 

«“Why, then,” said her mother, ‘‘ your

   
 

    

      

sister shall certainly gotoo. See, Fanny,
what falls from that child’s mouth!
Should not the same gift suit you finely?
You have but to go and fetch some water
from the well, and if a poor woman asks
for some, to give it her very politely.”

“A fine sight that would be,” an-
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THE FAIRY GIFTS. 21

swered she rudely. ‘Ill carry no water,
indeed ! ”

“But you shall go,” answered her
mother, ‘and that at once.”

So Fanny went, and scolded all the
way. With her she took the prettiest
silver jug to be found in the housé. No
sooner had she reached the spring than
she saw coming from the wood a lady
splendidly dressed, who asked her for a
drink. It was the same fairy who had
spoken to her sister, but now she had
taken the air and splendid clothes of a
princess, that she might prove just how
ill-natured was this elder sister.

‘Perhaps you think I am come here
only to fetch water for you,” said she,
impudently. «To be sure, I brought

this silver jug on purpose for you to
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24 THE FAIRY GIFTS.

drink out of! Very likely, isn’t it?
Get your own water, if you want any!”

“You are not very polite,” said the
fairy, coolly. ‘‘ Well, well, since these
are your ways, my gift to you shall be
that for every word you speak a snake or
a toad shall fall from your lips.”

When her mother saw her coming
back, she called to her, ‘‘How now,
daughter ?”

‘* How now, mother! ” said she, rudely,
and lo! there fell from her two vipers
and a toad.

“Oh,.la!” cried her mother. ‘*What’s
this I see? This is some naughty trick
of your sister’s; she shall pay for it!”
And so she ran and fetched a stick to
beat-her.

The poor child fled affrighted, and hid
 
26 THE FAIRY GIFTS.

 

herself in a forest hard by. The king’s
son, who was out hunting, chanced upon
her there, and seeing her with so sweet a
face, asked her what she was doing all
alone, and why she was crying.

“« Alas! sir,” said she, “it is my mother
who has driven me from home!”

The king’s son, when he saw five or
THE FAIRY GIFTS. 27],

y ANE
Es

 

six pearls and as many diamonds fall from
her lips, was full of amazement, and
begged her to tell him how such a thing
could be. So she told him all that had
happened. The king’s son fell in love
with her at once; thought that his father
could not but be pleased to have a
daughter with such a fairy gift; so he
took her home to his palace and married

her without delay.
28 THE FAIRY GIFTS.

 

As for her sister, every one so tho-
roughly disliked her company, that even
her own mother turned her out of doors.
No one would take her in, and the un-
happy girl must needs go and bide by

herself in a corner of the forest.
 
ea

 
Tom Hickathrift.
 
 

ONG before William the Conqueror,
there dwelt a man in the Isle of

Ely, named Thomas Hickathrift, a poor
labouring man, but so strong that he was
able to do in one day the ordinary work
of two. He had an only son, whom he
christened Thomas, after his own name.
The old man put his son to good learning,
but he would take none, for he was none
of the wisest, but something soft, and

had no docility at allin him. God calling
9C
34 TOM HICKATHRIFT.

 

this good man, the father, to his rest, his
mother, being tender of him, kept him
by her hard labour as well as she could;
but this was no easy matter, for Tom
would sit all day in the chimney-corner,
instead of doing anything to help her,
and although at the time we are speaking
of he was only ten years old, he would
eat more than four or five ordinary men,

and was five feet and a half in height,
TOM HICKATHRIFT. 35

 

and two feet and a half broad. His
hand was more like a shoulder of mutton
than a boy’s hand, and he was altogether
like a little monster; but yet his great
strength was not known.

Tom’s strength came to be known in
36 TOM HICKATHRIFT.

 

this manner: his mother, it seems, as
well as himself, for they lived in the
‘days of merry old England, slept upon
straw. Now, being a tidy old creature,
- she must every now and then have a new
bed, and one day having been promised
a bottle of straw by a neighbouring
farmer, after much begging, she got her
son to fetch it. ‘Tom, however, made
her borrow a cart-rope first, before he
would budge a step, without saying

what he wanted it for; but the poor
TOM HICKATHRIFT. 37

woman, too glad to gain his help upon
any terms, let him have it at once.
Tom, swinging the rope round his
shoulders, went to the farmer’s, and
found him with two men threshing in a
barn. Having told what he wanted, the
farmer said he might take as much straw
as he could carry. ‘Tom at once took
him at his word, and, placing the rope
in a right position, rapidly made up a
bundle containing at least a cartload, the
men jeering at him all the while. ‘Their
merriment, however, did not last long,
for Tom flung the enormous bundle over
his shoulders, and walked away with it
without any difficulty, and left them all
gaping after him.

After this exploit Tom was no longer

allowed to be idle. Every one tried to
38 TOM HICKATHRIFT.

 

secure his services, and we are told
many tales of his mighty strength. On
one occasion, having been offered as
great a bundle of firewood as he could
carry, he marched off with one of the
largest trees in the forest. Tom was
also extremely fond of attending fairs ;

and in cudgelling, wrestling, or throwing
 
40 TOM HICKATHRIFT.

Nile Meer
Yas MN Ne rus
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the hammer, there was no one who could
compete with him. He thought nothing
of flinging a huge hammer into the
middle of a river a mile off, and, in
fact, performed such extraordinary feats,
that the folk began to have a fear of

him.
TOM HICKATHRIFT. 41

At length a brewer at Lynn, who
required a strong lusty fellow to carry
his beer to the Marsh and to Wisbeach,
after much persuasion, and promising
him a new suit of clothes and as much as
he liked to eat and drink, secured Tom
for this business. ‘The distance he daily
travelled with the beer was upwards of
twenty miles, for although there was a
shorter cut through the Marsh, no one
durst go that way for fear of a monstrous
giant, who was lord of a portion of the
district, and who killed or made slaves
of every one he could lay his hands upon.

Now, in the course of time, Tom was
thoroughly tired of going such a round-
about way, and without telling his plans
to any one, he resolved to pass

through the giant’s domain, or lose his
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TOM HICKATHRIFT. 43

life in the attempt. This was a bold
undertaking, but good living had so
increased Tom’s strength and courage,
that, venturesome as he was before, his
hardiness was so much increased that he
would have faced a still greater danger.
| He accordingly drove his cart in the
forbidden direction, flinging the gates
wide open, as if for the purpose of
making his daring more plain to be seen.

At length he was espied by the giant,
who was in a rage at his boldness, but
consoled himself by thinking that Tom
and the beer would soon become his
prey. ‘‘Sirrah,” said the monster, ‘¢ who
gave you permission to come this way ?
Do you not know how I make all stand
in fear of me? and you, like an impudent

rogue, must come and fling my gates
44 TOM HICKATHRIFT.

open at your pleasure! Are you careless
of your life? Do not you care what you
do? But I will make you an example
for all rogues under the sun! Dost thou
not see how many thousand heads hang
upon yonder tree—heads of those who
have offended against my laws? But
thy head shall hang higher than all the
rest for an example!” But Tom made
him answer: ‘‘ A dishclout in your teeth
for your news, for you shall not find me
to be one of them.” ‘ No!” said the
giant, in astonishment and indignation ;
‘‘and what a fool you must be if you
come to fight with such a one as J am,
and bring never a weapon to defend .
yourself!” Quoth Tom, “I have a
weapon here that will make you know

you are a traitorly rogue.” This speech
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46 TOM HICKATHRIFT.

 

MIKEY
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highly, incensed the giant, who immedi-

ately ran to his cave for his club, intend-
ing to dash out Tom’s brains at one
blow. Tom was now much distressed
for a weapon, as by some chance he had
forgot one, and he began to reflect how
very little his whip would help him
against a monster twelve feet in height

and six feet round the waist. But while
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48 TOM HICKATHRIFT.

the giant was gone for his club, Tom
bethought himself, and turning his cart
upside down, adroitly takes out the axle-_
tree, which would serve him for a staff,
and removing a wheel, fits it to his
arm instead of a shield—very good
weapons indeed in time of trouble, and
worthy of Tom’s wit. When the
monster returned with his club, he was
amazed to see the weapons with which
Tom had armed himself; but uttering a
word of defiance, he bore down upon the
poor fellow with such heavy strokes that
it was as much as Tom could do to
defend himself with his wheel. Tom,
however, at length cut the giant a heavy
blow with the axle-tree on the side of
his head, that he nearly reeled over.

‘‘What!” said Tom, “have you drunk
TOM HICKATHRIFT. 49

 

of my strong beer already?” This
inquiry did not, as we may suppose,
mollify the giant, who laid on his blows
so sharply and heavily that Tom was
obliged to defend himself. By-and-bye,
not making any impression on the wheel,
he got almost tired out, and was obliged
to ask Tom if he would let him drink a
little, and then he would fight again.

‘*No,” said Tom, ‘my mother did not
9D
50 TOM HICKATHRIFT.

 

teach me that wit: who would be fool
then?” The end may readily be im-
agined ; Tom having beaten the giant,
cut off his head, and entered the cave,
which he found completely filled with

gold and silver.
The news of this victory rapidly

spread throughout the country, for the
giant had been a common enemy to the
people about. They made bonfires for
joy, and showed their respect to Tom by
 
52 TOM HICKATHRIFT.

every means in their power. A few
days afterwards Tom took possession of
the cave and all the giant’s treasure.
He pulled down the former, and built a
magnificent house on the spot; but as
for the land stolen by the giant, part of
it he gave to the poor for their common,
merely keeping enough for himself and
his good old mother, Jane Hickathrift.

Tom was now a great man and a hero
with all the country folk, so that when
any one was in danger or difficulty, it
was to Tom Hickathrift he must turn.
It chanced that about this time many
idle and rebellious persons drew them-
selves together in and about the Isle of
Ely; and set themselves to defy the King
and all his men.

By this time, you must know, Tom
54 TOM HICKATHRIFT.

 

Hickathrift- had secured to himself a
trusty friend and comrade, almost his
equal in strength and courage, for
though he was but a tinker, yet he was
a great and lusty one. Now the sheriff:
of the county came to Tom, under
cover of night, full of fear and tremb-
ling, and begged his aid and protection
against the rebels, ‘“‘else” said he, ‘‘ we
be all dead men!” ‘Tom, nothing loth,

called his friend the tinker, and as soon
TOM HICKATHRIFT. 55

as it was day, led by the sheriff, they
went out armed with their clubs to the
place where the rebels were gathered
together. When they were got thither,
Tom and the tinker marched up to the
leaders of the band, and asked them
why they were set upon breaking the
King’s peace. To this they answered
loudly, ‘Our will is our law, and by
that alone we will be governed!” ‘‘Nay,”
quoth Tom, ‘if it be so, these trusty
clubs are our weapons, and by them
alone you shall be chastised.” These
words were no sooner uttered than they
madly rushed on the throng of men,
bearing all before them, and laying
twenty or thirty sprawling with every
blow. The tinker struck off heads with

such violence that they flew like balls
56 TOM HICKATHRIFT.

 

for miles about, and when Tom _ had
slain hundreds and so broken his trusty
club, he laid hold of a lusty raw-boned
miller and made use of him as a weapon
till he had quite cleared the field.

If Tom Hickathrift had been a hero

before, he was twice a hero now. When
      

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58 TOM HICKATHRIFT.

 

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the King heard of it all, he sent for

(ieemmee :

him to be knighted, and when he was
Sir Thomas Hickathrift nothing would
serve him but that he must be married
to a great lady of the county.

So married he was, and a fine wedding
they had of it. There was a great feast
given, to which all the poor widows

for miles round were invited, because
TOM HICKATHRIFT. 59

 

of Tom’s mother, and rich and poor
feasted together. Among the poor
widows who came was an old woman
called Stumbelup, who with much in-
gratitude stole from the great table a
silver tankard. But she had not got
safe away before she was caught and
the people were so enraged at her
wickedness that they had nearly hanged
her. However, Sir Tom had her

rescued, and commanded that she should
60 TOM HICKATHRIFT.

 

A. — in
*
AM

be drawn on a wheel-barrow through

the streets and lanes of Cambridge, hold-
ing a placard in her hand on which was
written—

“Tam the naughty Stumbelup,
Who tried to steal the silver cup.”
 
PRINTED BY
TURNBULL AND SPEARS
EDINBURGH
 
— (BACT