Cyrus Macmillan - Canadian Fairy Tales: [Illustrated Edition]

CANADIAN WONDER TALES
With Illustrations in Colour by George Sheringham
and a Foreword by Sir William Peterson . Crown 4to.
McGILL AND ITS STORY, 1821-1921
Illustrated. Demy 8vo.
THE BODLEY HEAD

AND MANY OTHERS CAME, BUT THEY MET THE SAME FATE AND MANY OTHERS CAME, BUT THEY MET THE SAME FATE

TORONTO: S. B. GUNDY
LONDON: JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD LTD
First Published in 1922
Printed in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner, Frome and London

TO
THE MEMORY
OF
MY FATHER
DESCENDANT OF CANADIAN PIONEERS
WHO UPHELD THE OLD TRADITIONS
AND USED THE ANCIENT SPEECH.

Professor Macmillan has placed all lovers of fairy tales under a deep debt of obligation to him. The fairy tale makes a universal appeal both to old and young; to the young because it is the natural world in which their fancy delights to range, and to the old because they are conscious again of the spirit of youth as they read such tales to their children and grandchildren over and over again, and rejoice in the illusion that after all there is not a great difference of age which separates the generations.

The fairy tale makes this universal appeal because it deals with the elemental in our natures that is the same in every age and in every race. In the Canadian Tales which Professor Macmillan has so admirably gathered from Indian sources, we find the same types of character and scenes of adventure that we do in the tales of the German forests, of Scandinavia, England or France.

There is in us all an instinctive admiration for the adventurous spirit of the fairy tale which challenges the might that is cruel and devastating, and for the good offices of the fairies which help to vindicate the cause of the noble in its conflict with the ignoble, right with wrong.

The origin of the fairy tale is to be traced always to the early stages of civilization, and it is very gratifying to be assured from time to time that man possesses certain natural impulses which spring from an inherent sense of honour, and the desire to redress the wrongs of the world.

Professor Macmillan has been successful in presenting the Indian folk-lore in a most engaging manner. The stories have all the delightful charm and mystery of the Canadian forests; they have penetrated into the heart of nature, but also into the heart of man.

JOHN GRIER HIBBEN.

The tales in this collection, like those in "Canadian Wonder Tales," were gathered in various parts of Canadaby river and lake and ocean where sailors and fishermen still watch the stars; in forest clearings where lumbermen yet retain some remnant of the old vanished voyageur life and where Indians still barter for their furs; in remote country places where women spin while they speak with reverence of their fathers' days. The skeleton of each story has been left for the most part unchanged, although the language naturally differs somewhat from that of the story-tellers from whose lips the writer heard them.

It is too often forgotten that long before the time of Arthur and his Round Table these tales were known and treasured by the early inhabitants of our land. However much they may have changed in the oral passing from generation to generation the germ of the story goes back to very early days beyond the dawn of Canadian history. Canada is rich in this ancient lore. The effort to save it from oblivion needs no apology. Fairy literature has an important place in the development of the child mind, and there is no better fairy lore than that of our own country. Through the eyes of the Indian story-teller and the Indian dreamer, inheriting his tales from a romantic past, we can still look through "magic casements opening on the foam of perilous seas in fairy lands forlorn"; we can still feel something of the atmosphere of that mysterious past in which our ancestors dwelt and laboured. The author's sincerest hope in publishing this volume is that to the children of to-day the traditions of our romantic Canadian past will not be lost in our practical Canadian present.

McGill University ,
May, 1921.

PAGE
How Glooskap Made the Birds
Rabbit and the Grain Buyers
Saint Nicholas and the Children
The Fall of the Spider Man
The Boy who was Called Thick-head
Rabbit and the Indian Chief
Great Heart and the Three Tests
The Boy of the Red Twilight Sky
How Raven Brought Fire to the Indians
The Girl who Always Cried
Ermine and the Hunter
How Rabbit Deceived Fox
The Boy and the Dragon
Owl with the Great Head and Eyes
The Tobacco Fairy from the Blue Hills
Rainbow and the Autumn Leaves
Rabbit and the Moon-Man
The Children with One Eye
The Giant with the Grey Feathers
The Cruel Stepmother
The Boy who was Saved by Thoughts
The Song-Bird and the Healing Waters
The Boy who Overcame the Giants
The Youth and the Dog-Dance
Sparrow's Search for the Rain
The Boy in the Land of Shadows

And many others came, but they met the same fate
TO FACE PAGE
And the children all came to him each asking for a boon
So Duck crawled under the over-turned basket and sat very still
They stood for a time in the shadow of the great trees before the door and made ready to blow together
He came one day upon a man clad in scarlet sitting on the side of a rocky hill tying stones to his feet
The coat of Ermine was replaced by a sleek and shining white coat as spotless as the new snow in winter
Then Fox untied the bag and let Rabbit out and got into the bag himself
The giant frowning angrily, the woman carrying the stick, and the boy leading the dog
For some days the boy lay in terror in the nest ... and far out on the ocean he could see great ships going by
"Strike hard," said the boy, "or it will do you no good"
And they sat down together on the edge of the lake
Then the old man gave the boy a large pipe and some tobacco

TO FACE PAGE
He said farewell to the sky-country and let himself down to earth by one of his own strands of yarn
That night an old Wolf came through the forest in search of food
He went to Beaver's house by the stream, hobbling along with a stick
And she makes to him an offering of tiny white feathers plucked from the breasts of birds
Then Raven asked Mole to try, but Mole said: "Oh no, I am better fitted for other work. My fur would all be singed"
And with his magic power he changed her into a Fish-Hawk, and sent her out to the ocean
The man gave him another pair of mocassins in exchange for those he was wearing
Wolf trotting along like a little horse, and Rabbit laughing to himself, sitting in the saddle
Suddenly a large flock of birds, looking like great black clouds, came flying from the blue hills
Throughout the long winter months Deer looked longingly for Rainbow
He sat very quiet, waiting for the man of the long foot to appear
The boy went into the forest with his bow and arrows.... He had not gone far when he saw
a fat young deer, which he killed
The bull rushed at the mountain with all his force