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THE STORY OF FAIRYFOOT
Frances Browne
Once upon a time there stood far away in the west
country a town called Stumpinghame. It contained
seven windmills, a royal palace, a market place, and
a prison, with every other convenience .befitting the
capital of a kingdom. A capital city was Stumpinghame, and its
inhabitants thought it the only one in the world. It stood in the
midst of a great plain, which for three leagues round its walls
was covered with com, flax and orchards. Beyond that lay a
great circle of pasture land, seven leagues in breadth, and it
was boimded on all sides by a forest so thick and old that no
man in Stumpinghame knew its extent; and the opinion of the
learned was, that it reached to the end of the world.
There were strong reasons for this opinion. First, that for-
est was known to be inhabited time out of mind by the fairies,
and no hunter cared to go beyond its borders — so the west coun-
try believed it to be solidly full of old trees to the heart. Sec-
ondly, the people of Stumpinghame were no travellers — man,
woman, and child had feet so large and heavy that it was by
no means convenient to carry them far. Whether it was the
nature of the place or the people, I cannot tell, but great feet
had been the fashion there time immemorial, and the higher
the family the larger were they. It was, therefore, the aim of
everybody above the degree of shepherds, and such-like rustics,
to swell out and enlarge their feet by way of gentility; and so
successful were they in these undertakings that, on a pinch,
respectable people’s slippers would have served for panniers.
Stumpinghame had a king of its own, and his name was Stiff-
step; his family was very ancient and large-footed. His subjects
called him Lord of the World, and he made a speech to them
every year concerning the grandeur of his mighty empire. His
queen, Hammerheel, was tiie greatest beauty in Stumping-
hame. Her majesty’s shoe was not much less than a fishing-
boat; their six children promised to be quite as handsome, and
all went well with them till the birth of their seventh scai.
For a long time nobody about the palace could imderstand
what was the matter — the ladies-in-waiting looked so astonished,
and the king so vexed; but at last it was whispered through the
city that the queen’s seventh child had been bom with such
miserably small feet that they resembled nothing ever seen or
heard of in Stimipinghame, except the feet of the fairies.
The chronicles furnished no example of such an affliction
ever before happening in the royal family. The common people
thought it portended some great calamity to the city, the learned
men began to write books about it; and all the relations of the
king and queen assembled at the palace to mourn with them
over their singular misfortime. The whole court and most of
the citizens helped in this mourning, but when it had lasted
seven days they all found out it was of no use. So to cheer up
the queen’s spirits, the young prince was sent privately out to
the pasture lands, to be nursed among the shepherds.
The chief man there was called Fleecefold, and his wife’s
name was Rough Ruddy. They lived in a snug cottage with
their son, Blackthorn, and their daughter, Brownberry, and were
thought great people, because they kept the king’s sheep. More-
over, Fleecef old’s family were known to be ancient; and Rough
Ruddy boasted that she had the largest feet in all the pastures.
The shepherds held them in high respect, and it grew still higher
when the news spread that the king’s seventh son had been sent
to their cottage. People came from all quarters to see the
young prince, and great were the lamentations over his misfor-
time in having such small feet.
The king and queen had given him fourteen names, begin-
ning with Augustus — such being the fashion in that royal fam-
ily; but the honest country people could not remember so many;
besides, his feet were the most remarkable thing about the child,
so with one accord they called him Fairyfoot and the boy never
had another name throughout the pastures. At court it was not
thought polite to speak of him at all. They did not keep his
birthday, and he was never sent for at Christmas, because the
queen and her ladies could not bear the sight. Once a year
the undermost scullion was sent to see how he did, with a bundle
of his next brother^s cast-off clothes; and, as the king grew old
and cross, it was said he had thoughts of disowning him.
So Fairyfoot grew in Fleecefold’s cottage. Perhaps the
country air made him fair and rosy — for all agreed that he would
have been a handsome boy but for his small feet, with which
nevertheless he learned to walk, and in time to run and to jump,
thereby amazing everybody, for such doings were not known
among the children of Stumpinghame. The news of court,
however, travelled to the shepherds, and Fairyfoot was despised
among them. The old people thought him unlucky; the chil-
dren refused to play with him. Fleecefold was ashamed to
have him in his cottage, but he durst not disobey the king’s
orders. Moreover, Blackthorn wore most of the clothes brought
by the scullion. At last. Rough Ruddy found out that the
sight of such horrid jumping would make her children vulgar;
and, as soon as he was old enough, she sent Fairyfoot every day
to watch some sheep on a wild, weedy pasture, hard by the forest.
Poor Fairyfoot was often lonely and sorrowful; many a time
he wished his feet would grow larger, and all the comfort he
had was running and jumping by himself in the wild pasture,
and thinking that none of the shepherds’ children could do the
like, for all their pride of their great feet.
Tired of this sport, he was lying in the shadow of a mossy
rock one warm summer’s noon, with the sheep feeding around,
when a robin, pursued by a great hawk, flew into the old velvet
cap which lay on the ground beside him. Fairyfoot covered
it up, and the hawk, frightened by his shout, flew away.
“Now you may go, poor robin!” he said, opening the cap;
but instead of the bird, out sprang a little man dressed in russet
brown, and looking as if he were an hundred years old. Fairy-
foot could not speak for astonishment, but the little man said:
“Thank you for your shelter, and be sure I will do as much
for you. Call on me if you are ever in trouble; my name is
Robin Goodfellow;” and darting off, he was out of sight in an
instant. For days the boy wondered who that little man could
be, but he told nobody, for the little man’s feet were as small
as his own, and it was clear he would be no favorite in Stump-
inghame. Fairyfoot kept the story to himself, and at last mid-
summer came. That evening was a feast among the shep-
herds. There were bonfires on the hills, and fun in the villages.
But Fairyfoot sat alone beside his sheepfold, for the children
of his village had refused to let him dance with them about the
bonfire. He had never felt so lonely in all his life, and remember-
ing the little man, he plucked up spirit, and cried:
“Ho! Robin Goodfellow!”
“Here I am,*’ said a shrill voice at his elbow; and there stood
the little man himself.
“I am very lonely, and no one will play with me, because
my feet are not large enough,” said Fairyfoot.
“Come then and play with us,*’ said the little man. “We
lead the merriest lives in the world, and care for nobody’s feet;
but all companies have their own manners, and there are two
things you must mind among us: first, do as you see the rest
doing; and secondly, never speak of anything you may hear
or see, for we and the people of this country have had no friend-
ship ever since large feet came in fashion.’*
“I will do that, and anything more you like,*’ said Fairy-
foot; and the little man, taking his hand, led him over the pas-
ture into the forest, and along a mossy path among old trees
wreathed with ivy (he never knew how far), till they heard the
sound of music, and came upon a meadow where the moon shone
as bright as day, and all the flowers of the year — snowdrops,
violets, primroses, and cowslips — ^bloomed together in the thick
grass. There were a crowd of little men and women, some clad
in russet colour, but far more in green, dancing round a little
well as clear as crystal. And under great rose-trees which grew
here and there in the meadow, companies were sitting round low
tables covered with cups of milk, dishes of honey, and carved
wooden flagons filled with clear red wine. The little man led
Fairyfoot up to the nearest table, handed him one of the flagons,
and said, “Drink to the good company!’*
Then the boy forgot all his troubles — ^how Blackthorn and
Brownberry wore his clothes, how Rough Ruddy sent him to keep
the sickly sheep, and the children would not dance with him; in
short, he forgot the whole misfortune of his feet, and it seemed
to his mind that he was a king’s son, and all was well with him.
All the little people about the well cried:
“Welcome! welcome!” and every one said: “Come and dance
with me!” So Fairyfoot was as happy as a prince, and drank
milk and ate honey till the moon was low in the sky, and then
the little man took him by the hand, and never stopped nor
stayed till he was at his own bed of straw in the cottage comer.
Next morning Fairyfoot was not tired for all his dancing.
Nobody in the cottage had missed him, and he went out with
the sheep as usual; but every night all that simimer, when the
shepherds were safe in bed, the little man came and took him
away to dance in the forest. Now he did not care to play with
the shepherds’ children, nor grieve that his father and mother
had forgotten him, but watched the sheep all day singing to
himself or plaiting rushes; and when the sun went down. Fairy-
foot’s heart rejoiced at thought of meeting that merry company.
The wonder was that he was never tired nor sleepy, as people
are apt to be who dance all night; but before the summer was
ended Fairyfoot found out the reason. One night, when the
moon was full, and the last of the ripe com rustling in the fields,
Robin Goodfellow came for him as usual, and away they went
to the flowery green. The fun there was high, and Robin was
in haste. So he only pointed to the carved cup from which
Fairyfoot every night drank.
“I am not thirsty, and there is no use losing time,” thought
the boy to himself, and he joined the dance; but never in all
his life did Fairyfoot find such hard work as to keep pace with
the company. Their feet seemed to move like lightning; the
swallows did not fly so fast or turn so quickly. Fairyfoot did
his best, for he never gave in easily, but at length, his breath
and strength being spent, the boy was glad to steal away, and
sit down behind a mossy oak, where his eyes closed for very
weariness. When he awoke the dance was nearly over, but two
little ladies clad in green talked close beside him.
“What a beautiful boy!” said one of them. “He is worthy
to be a king’s son. Only see what handsome feet he has!”
“Yes,” said the other, with a laugh that sounded spiteful;
“they are just like the feet Princess Maybloom had before she
washed them in the Growing Well. Her father has sent far
and wide throughout the whole country searching for a doctor
to make them small again, but nothing in this world can do it
except the water of the Fair Fountain, and none but I and the
nightingales know where it is.”
“One would not care to let the like be known,” said the first
little lady, “there would come such crowds of these great coarse
creatures of mankind, nobody would have peace for leagues
round. But you will surely send word to the sweet princess!
— she was so kind to our birds and butterflies, and danced so
like one of ourselves !*’
“Not I, indeed!” said the spiteful fairy. “Her father cut
down the cedar which I loved best in the whole forest, and made
a chest of it to hold his money in; besides, I never liked the
princess — everybody praised her so.**
When they were gone, Fairyfoot could sleep no more with
astonishment. He did not wonder at the fairies admiring his
feet, because their own were much the same; but it amazed him
that Princess Maybloom*s father should be troubled at hers
growing large. Moreover, he wished to see that same princess
and her country, since there were really other places in the world
than Stumpinghame.
All the next day Fairyfoot was so weary that in the after-
noon he fell asleep, with his head on a clump of rushes. It was
seldom that any one thought of looking after him and the sheep;
but it so happened that towards evening the old shepherd,
Fleecefold, thought he would see how things went on in the
pastures. The shepherd had a bad temper and a slick staff,
and no sooner did he catch sight of Fairyfoot sleeping, and his
flock straying away, than shouting all the ill names he could
remember, in a voice which woke up the boy, he ran after him
as fast as his great feet would allow; while Fairyfoot, seeing no
other shelter from his fury, fled into the forest, and never stopped
nor stayed till he reached the banks of a little stream.
Thinking it might lead him to the fairies’ dancing-ground,
he followed that stream for many an hour, but it wound away
into the heart of the forest, flowing through dells, falling over
mossy rocks, and at last leading Fairyfoot, when he was tired
and the night had fallen, to a grove of great rose-trees, with
the moon shining on it as bright as day, and thousands of night-
ingales singing in the branches. In the midst of that grove
was a clear spring, bordered with banks of lilies, and Fairyfoot
sat down by it to rest himself and listen. The singing was so
sweet he could have listened for ever, but as he sat the night-
ingales left off their songs, and began to talk together in the
silence of the night:
“What boy is that,” said one on a branch above him, “who
sits so lonely by the Fair Fountain? He cannot have come
from Stumpinghame with such small and handsome feet.”
“No, ril warrant you,*’ said another, “he has come from the
west country. How in the world did he find the way?”
“How simple you are!” said a third nightingale. “What
had he to do but follow the ground-ivy which grows over height
and hollow, bank and bush, from the lowest gate of the king’s
kitchen-garden to the root of this rose-tree? He looks a wise
boy, and I hope he will keep the secret, or we shall have all the
west coimtry here, dabbling in our fountain, and leaving us no
rest to either talk or sing.”
Fairyfoot sat in great astonishment at this discourse, but
by and by, when the talk ceased and the songs began, he thought
it might be as well for him to follow the ground-ivy, and see
the Princess Maybloom, not to speak of getting rid of Rough
Ruddy, the sickly sheep, and the crusty old shepherd. It was
a long journey; but he went on, eating wild berries by day, sleep-
ing in the hollows of old trees by night, and never losing sight
of the ground-ivy, which led him over height and hollow, bank
and bush, out of the forest, and along a noble high road, with
fields and villages on every side, to a great city, and a low old-
fashioned gate of the king’s kitchen-garden, which was thought
too mean for scullions, and had not been opened for seven years.
There was no use knocking — ^the gate was overgrown with
tall weeds and moss; so, being an active boy, he climbed over,
and walked through the garden, till a little fawn came frisk-
ing by, and he heard a soft voice saying sorrowfully:
“Come back, come back, my fawn! I cannot run and play
with you now, my feet have grown so heavy;” and looking round
he saw the loveliest young princess in the world, dressed in snow-
white, and wearing a wreath of roses on her golden hair; but
walking slowly, as the great people did in Stumpinghame, for
her feet were as large as the best of them.
After her came six young ladies, dressed in white and walk-
ing slowly, for they could not go before the princess; but Fairy-
foot was amazed to see that their feet were as small as his own.
At once he guessed that this must be the Princess Maybloom,
and made her an humble bow, saying:
“Royal princess, I have heard of your trouble because your
feet have grown large; in my country that’s all the fashion. For
seven years past I have been wondering what would make mine
grow, to no purpose; but I know of a certain fountain that will
make yours smaller and finer than ever they were, if the king,
your father, gives you leave to come with me, accompanied by
two of your maids that are the least given to talking, and the
most prudent officer in all his household; for it would offend the
fairies and the nightingales to make that fountain known/’
When the princess heard that, she danced for joy in spite
of her large feet, and she and her six maids brought Fairyfoot
before the king and queen, where they sat in their palace hall,
with all the courtiers paying their morning compliments. The
lords were very much astonished to see a ragged, bare-footed
boy brought in among them, and the ladies thought Princess
Maybloom must have gone mad; but Fairyfoot, making an
humble reverence, told his message to the king and queen, and
offered to set out with the princess that very day. At first the
king would not believe that there could be any use in his offer,
because so many great physicians had failed to give any relief.
The courtiers laughed Fairyfoot to scorn, and the pages wanted
to turn him out for an impudent impostor, but the queen, being
a prudent woman, said:
“I pray your majesty to notice what fine feet this boy has.
There may be some truth in his story. For the sake of our only
daughter, I will choose two maids who talk the least of all our
train, and my chamberlain, who is the most discreet officer in
our household. Let them go with the princess; who knows
but our sorrow may be lessened?”
After some persuasion the king consented, though all his
councillors advised the contrary. So the two silent maids, the
discreet chamberlain, and her fawn, which would not stay behind,
were sent with Princess Maybloom, and they all set out after
dinner. Fairyfoot had hard work guiding them along the track
of the ground-ivy. The maids and the chamberlain did not
like the brambles and rough roots of the forest — they thought
it hard to eat berries and sleep in hollow trees; but the prin-
cess went on with good courage, and at last they reached the
grove of rose-trees, and the spring bordered with lilies.
The chamberlain washed — and though his hair had been
grey, and his face wrinkled, the young courtiers envied his beauty
for years after. The maids washed — and from that day they
were esteemed the fairest in all the palace. Lastly, the princess
washed also — ^it could make her no fairer, but the moment her
feet touched the water they grew less, and when she had washed
and dried them three times, they were as small and iSnely shaped
as Fairyfoot’s own. There was great joy among them, but
the boy said sorrowfully:
“Oh! if there had been a well in the world to make my feet
large, my father and mother would not have cast me off, nor
sent me to live among the shepherds.”
“Cheer up your heart,” said the Princess Maybloom; “if
you want large feet, there is a well in this forest that will do it.
Last summer time, I came with my father and his foresters to
see a great cedar cut down, of which he meant to make a money
chest. While they were busy with the cedar, I saw a bramble
branch covered with berries. Some were ripe and some were
green, but it was the longest bramble that ever grew; for the
sake of the berries, I went on and on to its root, which grew
hard by a muddy-looking well, with banks of dark green moss,
in the deepest part of the forest. The day was warm and dry,
so I took off my scarlet shoes, and washed my feet in the well;
but as I washed they grew larger every minute, and nothing
could ever make them less again. I have seen the bramble this
day; it is not far off, and as you have shown me the Fair Foun-
tain, I will show you the Growing Well.”
Up rose Fairyfoot and Princess Maybloom, and went together
till they found the bramble, and came to where its root grew,
hard by the muddy-looking well, with banks of dark green moss,
in the deepest dell of the forest. Fairyfoot sat down to wash,
but at that minute he heard a sound of music, and knew it was
the fairies going to their dancing-ground.
“If my feet grow large,” said the boy to himself, “how shall
I dance with them?” So, rising quickly, he took the Princess
Maybloom by the hand. The fawn followed them; the maids
and the chamberlain followed it, and all followed the music
through the forest. At last they came to the flowery green.
Robin Goodfellow welcomed the company for Fairyfoot’s sake,
and they danced there from sunset till the grey morning, and
nobody was tired. But before the lark sang, Robin Goodfellow
took them all safe home, as he used to take Fairyfoot.
There was great joy that day in the palace because Princess
Maybloom’s feet were made small again. The king gave Fairy-
foot all manner of fine clothes alnd rich jewels; and when they
heard this wonderful story, he and the queen asked him to live
with them and be their son. In process of time Fairyfoot and
Princess Maybloom were married, and still live happily. When
they go to visit at Stumpinghame, they always wash their feet
in the Growing Well, the royal family
might think them disgrace, but when
they come back, they haste to the
Fair Fountain; the fairies and the
nightingales are to them, as well
as the maids and the chamberlain, because
they have told nobody about it, and there is
peace and quiet yet in the grove of rosetrees.
