MossyCoat

Once on a time and twice on a time, and all times together as ever I heard tell of, there lived a gentle and kind girl, who played with the woods, swam with the rivers and talked with the creatures. She had a joyful childhood and grew to be a glad young woman. The day came when she was to be married. Her husband was a good man and she went with him to live happily ever after.

They lived in a grand home and from their window, they could see across the fields and woods and all the way as far as to the sea. The husband, he did so want a son for an heir but he and his wife had daughter after daughter, four in all and each bonny and fair. The summers and winters came and went and, in time, the girls desired to be wed. The eldest, she married a merchant. The next, she married a local lord and landowner. The third, a handsome foreigner; who took her hand and sailed far away. The parents did not resent their daughters’ happiness but as each left, their mother felt them take a piece of her heart and their father worried for his estate and wondered what would become of him and his wife in their old age.

When the youngest daughter came of an age to be married, the father called her to him and announced that it was decided that she should remain a maid, inherit the house and live with her parents to take care of them as they grew elderly.

The young girl sobbed and wept, begging her father to reconsider. At the sight of her tears, the father felt her sadness touch his heart. He did not relent but answered her that should there be a man who could bring her a wedding dress richer and finer than all other dresses, then she would be able to wear it to wed him.

The beauty and fair nature of the youngest daughter was well known and soon, news of her father’s pronouncement had spread through the all the nearby villages. Many young men decided to try and claim her hand by bringing the finest dress that he could find.

On the first day, a young man appeared with a very lovely dress- soft and rich in colour and luxurious in length. The young man turned his handsome face to the girl’s father in expectation. ‘This is indeed a beautiful dress,’ the father said, ‘If only it were trimmed with a collar of lace.’

The next day another suitor appeared bearing a dress with the most delicate lace work collar and cuffs. ‘Fine indeed,’ the father declared, ‘But a dress sewed with golden thread would be finer still’.

The following morning, the father greeted a young man presenting a dress sewn with the finest golden thread. The father inspected it. ‘The gold shines well,’ he said, ‘but what of these dull buttons?’

On the fourth morning, a young man rode to the gates, carrying with him a dress of rich cloth, trimmed with lace, sewed with golden thread and adorned with intricately forged buttons. But the father tossed it aside and pronounced, ‘This is of no use -it is too heavy for my slender daughter’s frame.’

At this, the girl cried out, ‘ It’s no use. I will never be married. No dress will ever be good enough, for you will always ask for more.’ She ran from the room, her sobs echoing through the halls.

That night, the girl’s mother called for her. ‘Do not worry child’, her mother soothed. ‘I have hidden the suitors’ fine dresses in the trunk of the old oak.’ ‘But they are of no use!’ The girl cried and threw herself back to weeping. Her mother stroked her hair and spoke gently, ‘Be assured that you will be married. I will make you a dress that is richer than all the others. I will give it to the old beggar man and he will present it to your father.’

‘But I do not want to marry an old beggar!’ the daughter exclaimed, horrified at the thought. ‘And neither will you have to,’ her mother reassured her, ‘The dress will be made of the magic of the woodland and the wings of the birds and butterflies and you will be able to ask it to fly you away.’

That night the girl’s mother called all of her favours from the creatures that had always kept her company. Moved by the love she had for her youngest daughter, she worked all night, sewing a dress of the most delicate moth’s silk, stitched with silver thread of frost and spider’s web and edged with the gold of the finch feather. She trimmed the collar and cuff with lace made from delicate moss. Down the length of the back, she sewed tiny flower buttons- violets, primroses, anemones, oxlips, celandine, campions, vervain, buttercups and daisies. The hem jingled with bluebells and tiny lily of the valley, the bodice glittered, bejewelled with the iridescent shimmer of the wings of insects and the sleeves shone with studs of starlight and pearls of morning dew.

Once the gown was finished, the girls mother left the house to find the old beggar man. She had no trouble convincing him to present the dress to her husband, for when he laid eyes on it, he could see that it was the most beautiful dress imaginable and he could not believe his good fortune that he would be the one to claim the fair girl as his wife. As she left the parcel with the old man and turned for home, the mother wept, for she was sad that her plan would mean her daughter would leave and she knew she would dearly miss her.

At the loud knocking on the door, the young girl raced to open it and fair flung it open off its hinges. Her father came to see what the fuss was and seeing the beggar on the threshold, began to dismiss him and send him on his way. Bowing low and coughing to clear his phlegmy throat, the beggarman addressed the rich man and his daughter. ‘I have heard tell that you will give in marriage your daughter to he who presents the finest wedding gown. So here I am to claim her as my bride.’

Well the father near choked laughing at the beggarman’s declaration and was ready to push the door shut in his face when suddenly, he caught sight of the dress the old man was lifting from its package.

The father and his daughter gasped in amazement for it truly was the most beautiful garment. It shone like a summer afternoon and twinkled like an icy winter dawn. It glowed with the richness of an autumn evening and its fabric seemed to flutter like the breeze of a spring morning.

Without doubt, there could be no finer gown.

The men waited whilst the mother helped her daughter into the dress and as she smoothed it, she whispered, ‘Remember this dress is magical.’

As soon as she re-entered, the young girl embraced her parents and quietly wished for the dress to fly her far away. In a moment, she was gone and the rest were left; the men bewildered and the mother bereft.

The girl found herself in the dark and dank of the woodland. Her shining dress now dull, its magic exhausted. And with this earthy appearance, she presented herself to the nearest house she found. The door opened and the mistress looked down at the slender girl in the dirty, mossy coat.

‘What can I do for you?’ she asked.

‘I have no home but I can wash and cook in return for lodgings’ the girl replied. The plaintive tone pulled the heart strings of the mistress. Smiling, she took her hand, ‘Come Little Mossycoat. I have a place in the kitchen for you.’ And she led her in.

Days passed and Mossycoat toiled away in the kitchen. One morning, she heard the house in great preparation for a grand May ball. The prince himself was coming! The rooms were cleaned, furniture polished, great fires laid and the kitchen, including Mossycoat, kept busy chopping, peeling, boiling and baking for a feast fit for royalty.

The night before the ball, Mossycoat lay in her bed thinking of her mother and as she fell asleep a plan curled its way through her dream. Waking in the stillness of the night, she slipped silently through the house and crept carefully through the dark to the woodland. Treading along the path of leaves and soft needles, she found her way to the old oak where, sure enough, she found the beautiful gowns of gold and silk and silver which her mother had hidden there.

The evening of the ball arrived. The revellers turned up in their finery to feast and dance. May garlands hung across beams and merry voices and the tunes of fiddles filled the house. The prince, elegant in stature and manners, moved amongst the guests, greeting each cordially. A murmur went through the hall. A hush fell and heads turned as a beautiful young girl, wearing a dress of brilliance and richness, walked through the room.

The prince, dazzled, asked her to dance and they whirled and laughed, her long hair flowing with the velvet dress she wore. And those who looked carefully saw she danced barefoot. Then suddenly, she halted, the other dancers still spinning around her. Mossycoat knew she had to return to the kitchen so that she would not be discovered missing. She pulled away from the prince and ran through the throng.

The following night, as the revels continued, she returned; this time dressed in a wonderous gown trimmed with the most delicate lacework. And once again, the prince danced only with the beautiful, barefoot maiden.

For the two further nights of May merriment, Mossycoat arrived each time in a different, even more splendid, dress. Each night the prince danced with only Mossycoat and by the end of the last evening, he declared his love for her and asked for her hand in marriage. Overwhelmed, Mossycoat fled, darting through the crowd toward the kitchen where she hid in the cupboard. But the prince ran after her and the people, intrigued, followed them both.

The mistress of the house, confused by the prince’s behaviour and concerned at the curtailment of the festivities, strode into the kitchen. ‘Come out Mossycoat’ the mistress demanded. And out she came, bashful, wearing again her dress of moss.

‘Mossycoat? Is that your name?’ the prince asked, puzzled. And so Mossycoat told them her whole tale. And as she did so, the magic of May moved about the place. The young girl found that her enchanted dress once more began to shimmer and glow and so, as she finished her story, she whispered a wish. To her delight, and to the surprise of all others, she found herself back in the company of her beloved mother and father. Her mother was overjoyed to be reunited with her daughter and her father was thrilled with the prospect of a prince for a son-in-law! The father gave them his blessings for their union and they were married that very day. And never has there been more beautiful May bride as Mossycoat looked that sweet morning, in her radiant gown of moss and magic.