"Mossycoat" is a
fairy tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...
published by
Katherine M. Briggs and
Ruth Tongue
Ruth Lyndall Tongue (7 February 1898 – 19 September 1981) was a British storyteller and writer who published several collections of folklore and various articles.
Biography
Ruth Tongue was born in Handsworth. She was the third and youngest chi ...
in ''Folktales of England''.
[ Carter, Angela. ''The Old Wives' Fairy Tale Book'' New York: Pantheon Books, 1990. pp. 48-56. .] It appears in ''A Book of British Fairy Tales'' by
Alan Garner
Alan Garner (born 17 October 1934) is an English novelist best known for his children's fantasy novels and his retellings of traditional British folk tales. Much of his work is rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of his native count ...
. The story known by
folklorists
Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...
was collected by researcher
T. W. Thompson from teller Taimi Boswell, a Romani, at
Oswaldtwistle
Oswaldtwistle ( "ozzel twizzel") is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England, southeast of Blackburn, contiguous with Accrington and Church. The town has a rich industrial heritage, being home to James Hargreaves, inventor of the ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, January 9, 1915.
[
It is Aarne-Thompson type 510B, unnatural love. Others of this type include "]Donkeyskin
''Donkeyskin'' (french: Peau d'Âne) is a French literary fairytale written in verse by Charles Perrault. It was first published in 1695 in a small volume and republished in 1697 in Perrault's '' Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. Andrew La ...
", "Catskin
Catskin is an English fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs, in ''More English Fairy Tales''. Marian Roalfe Cox, in her pioneering study of ''Cinderella'', identified as one of the basic types, the Unnatural Father, contrasting with ''Cinderella'' ...
", "Allerleirauh
"Allerleirauh" ( en, "All-Kinds-of-Fur", sometimes translated as "Thousandfurs") is a fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm. Since the second edition published in 1819, it has been recorded as Tale no. 65. Andrew Lang included it in ''The Gree ...
", " The King who Wished to Marry His Daughter", "The She-Bear
"The She-bear" is an Italian literary fairy tale, written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the ''Pentamerone''.
Ruth Manning-Sanders included it in ''A Book of Princes and Princesses''.
It is Aarne-Thompson classification system folktal ...
", "Tattercoats
"Tattercoats" is an English fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in his ''More English Fairy Tales''.
It is Aarne–Thompson type 510B, the persecuted heroine. Others of this type include " Cap O' Rushes", "Catskin", " Little Cat Skin", "Allerl ...
", "Cap O' Rushes
"Cap-o'-Rushes" is an English fairy tale published by Joseph Jacobs in ''English Fairy Tales''.
Jacobs gives his source as "Contributed by Mrs. Walter-Thomas to "Suffolk Notes and Queries" of the ''Ipswich Journal'', published by Mr. Lang in ''Lo ...
", " The Princess That Wore A Rabbit-Skin Dress", " The Bear" and "The Princess in the Suit of Leather
''The Princess in the Suit of Leather'' is an Egyptian folktale. It may also be referred to as ''The Princess in the Leather Burqa''. This story was originally published in translation in Inea Bushnaq's 1986 collection ''Arab Folktales''. Author ...
".
Synopsis
A hawker
Hawker or Hawkers may refer to:
Places
* Hawker, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Hawker, South Australia, a town
* Division of Hawker, an Electoral Division in South Australia
* Hawker Island, Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarct ...
wanted to marry a widow's young daughter, but she did not want to marry him. The widow, who was spinning a coat for her, told her to ask for a white satin dress with gold sprigs, which must fit her exactly. The girl did so, and three days later, the hawker brought it. The girl asked her mother, and at her instruction, asked the hawker for a dress the colour of all the birds of the air, which must fit her exactly. When he brought that, she asked for silver slippers, which must fit her exactly. Then her mother told him to come the next day, at ten, to get his answer. That morning, the mother gave her the coat, which she had made of moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...
and gold thread, and which would let her move somewhere else by wish
A wish is a hope or desire for something. In fiction, wishes can be used as plot devices. In folklore, opportunities for "making a wish" or for wishes to "come true" or "be granted" are themes that are sometimes used.
In fiction
In fictio ...
ing and also to change
Change or Changing may refer to:
Alteration
* Impermanence, a difference in a state of affairs at different points in time
* Menopause, also referred to as "the change", the permanent cessation of the menstrual period
* Metamorphosis, or change, ...
herself into any form by wishing. Then she sent her to the great hall to work.
She tried to get a job as a cook, but they had a cook, so the lady offered to hire her to help the cook as the undercook. She took it, but the servants would not stand it, being jealous of her beauty and her getting such a position when she left the road; instead, they made her clean dishes and hit her on the head with the skimmer.
A dance came up, and the servants jeered at the idea that she might go. The young master, who had seen how beautiful she was, asked her if she wanted to go, but she said she was too dirty, even when the master and mistress pressed her as well. That night, she put all the other servants magically asleep, washed, put on the white satin dress, and used the mossycoat to go to the ball. The young master fell in love with her, but she said only that she came from a place where people hit her on the head with the skimmer, and when the ball was over, she used the mossycoat to go back. She woke all the servants and hinted she might have to tell the mistress about their sleeping, so they treated her better. When the story came of the grand lady at the ball, they went back to abusing her.
Another ball came, and this time, she went in the other dress. The young master tried to catch her, and perhaps touched her shoe; at any rate, it came off. He made every woman try to put on the shoe, and when he heard that Mossycoat alone had not tried it, he sent for her too. The shoe fit her. The master and mistress turned off the servants for hitting her with the skimmer, and the young master and Mossycoat married.
Analysis
Tale type
In his 1987 guide to folktales, folklorist D. L. Ashliman
Dee L. Ashliman (born January 1, 1938), who writes professionally as D. L. Ashliman, is an American folklorist and writer. He is Professor Emeritus of German at the University of Pittsburgh and is considered to be a leading expert on folklore an ...
classified the tale, according to the international Aarne-Thompson Index, as type AaTh 510B, "A King Tries To Marry His Daughter", thus related to French tale ''Donkeyskin
''Donkeyskin'' (french: Peau d'Âne) is a French literary fairytale written in verse by Charles Perrault. It was first published in 1695 in a small volume and republished in 1697 in Perrault's '' Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. Andrew La ...
'', by Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales ...
, and other variants, such as Allerleirauh
"Allerleirauh" ( en, "All-Kinds-of-Fur", sometimes translated as "Thousandfurs") is a fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm. Since the second edition published in 1819, it has been recorded as Tale no. 65. Andrew Lang included it in ''The Gree ...
, Cap O' Rushes
"Cap-o'-Rushes" is an English fairy tale published by Joseph Jacobs in ''English Fairy Tales''.
Jacobs gives his source as "Contributed by Mrs. Walter-Thomas to "Suffolk Notes and Queries" of the ''Ipswich Journal'', published by Mr. Lang in ''Lo ...
, The Bear, The She-Bear
"The She-bear" is an Italian literary fairy tale, written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the ''Pentamerone''.
Ruth Manning-Sanders included it in ''A Book of Princes and Princesses''.
It is Aarne-Thompson classification system folktal ...
and The King who Wished to Marry his Daughter.
Adaptations
English novelist Alan Garner
Alan Garner (born 17 October 1934) is an English novelist best known for his children's fantasy novels and his retellings of traditional British folk tales. Much of his work is rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of his native count ...
adapted the tale as ''Mossycoat'', in his book ''Alan Garner's Book of British fairy tales''.
Also adapted in a song by Emily Portman, in the 2010 album The Glamoury [https://emilyportman.bandcamp.com/album/the-glamoury]
See also
*Katie Woodencloak
"Katie Woodencloak" or "Kari Woodengown" (originally "Kari Trestakk") is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in ''Norske Folkeeventyr''. Andrew Lang included it in '' The Red Fairy Book''.
It is Aarne ...
*Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
References
{{Donkeyskin
English fairy tales
Romani fairy tales
Female characters in fairy tales
ATU 500-559