m m m m SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE AN ENTERTAINING TALE, TO WHICH IS ADDED PADDY AND THE BEAR, A TRUE STORY. D GLASGOW: PRINTED FOR THE BOOKSELLERS. THE Sleeping- Beauty, A TALE. Thicke was formerly, in a distant country, a king and a queen, the most beautiful and happy in the world ; having- nothing to allay their de- lights, but the want of children to participate in the pleasures they enjoyed. This was their whole concern : physicians, waters, vows, and offerings were tried, but all to no purpose. At last, however, the queen proved with child, and in due time she was brought to bed of a daugh- ter. At the christening the princess had seven fairies for her god-mothers, who were all they could find in the whole kingdom, that every one might give her a gift. The christening being over, a grand feast was prepared to entertain and thank the fairies. Be- fore each of them was placed a magnificent eorer, with a spoon, a knife, and a fork, of pure gold and excellent workmanship, set with divers 4ft precious stones ; but, as they were all sitting down at the table, they saw come into the hall a very old fairy, whom they had not invited, be- cause it was near fifty years since she had been out of a certain tower, and was thought to have been either dead or enchanted. The king ordered her a cover, but could not furnish her with a case of gold as the others had, because he had only seven made for the seven fairies. The old fairy, thinking she was slighted by not being treated in the same manner as the rest, murmured out some threats between her teeth One of the young fairies who sat by her overheard how she grumbled, and judging that she might give the little princess some unluckv gift, she went, as soon as she rose from the ta- ble, and hid herself behind the hangings, that she might speak last, and repair, as much as pos- sibly she could, the evil which the old fairy might intend. In the meanwhile, all the fairies began to give their gifts to the princess in the following man- ner : — The youngest gave her a gift, that she should be the most beautiful person in the world. The third, that she would have a wonderful grace in every thino- that she did. The fourth, that she would sing perfectly f well And the sixth, that she would play on all kinds of musical instruments to the utmost degree of- perfection. The old fairy's turn coming next, she advan- ced forward, and, with a shaking head which seemed to show more spite than age, s'fie said, That the princess would have her hands; pierced with a spindle, and die of the wound. This terrible gift made the whole company tremble, and every one of them fell a-crying. At this very instant the young fairy came out from behind the curtains, and spoke these words aloud: Assure yourselves, O king and queen, that your daughter shall not die of this disaster. It is true I have not power to undo what my elder has done. The princess shall indeed pierce her hand with a spindle ; but, instead of dying, she shall only fall into a profound sleep, which shall fa&i a hundred years, at the expiration of which a King's son shall come, and awake her from it. The king, to avoid this misfortune, told by the old splenetic and malicious fairy, caused im- mediately his royal proclamation to be issued forth, whereby every person was forbidden, upon pain of death, to spin with a distaff or spindle ; 6 nay, e\ f en so much as to have a spmdle in any of their houses. About fifteen or sixteen years after the king and queen being gone to one of their houses of pleasure., the young princess happened to divert herself by going up and down the palace, when, going up from one apartment to another, she at length came into a little room at the top of the tower, where an old woman was sitting ail alone, and spinning with her spindle. This good woman had not heard of the king's proclamation against spindles. What are you doing there, Goody ? said the princess. I am spinning, my pretty child, said the old woman, who did not know who she was. Ha ! said the princess, that is very pretty : now do you do it ? give it to me, that I may see if I can do so. The old woman, to satisfy the child's curiosity, granted her request. She had no soon- er taken it into her hand, than whether being very hasty at it, and somewhat unhandy, or that the decree of the spiteful fairy had ordained it, is not to be certainly ascertained ; but, however, it immediately ran into her hand, and she directly fell down upon the ground in a swoon. The good old woman, not knowing what to do in this affair, cried out for help. People came in from every quarter in great numbers ; some threw water upon the princess, face, unlaced her, struck her on the palms of her hands, and rub- bed her temples with Hungary water ; but all they could do did not bring her to herself. The good fairy who had saved her life, by condemning* her to sleep one hundred years, was in the kingdom of Matakin, twelve thousand leagues off, when this accident befel the princess ; but she was instantly informed of it by a little dwarf, who had boots of seven leagues, that is, boots with which he could tread over seven leagues of ground at one stride. The fairy left the kingdom immediately, and arrived at the pal- ace in about an hour after, in a fiery chariot drawn by dragons. The king handed her out of the chariot, and she approved of every thing he had done ; but, as she had a very great fore-sight, she thought that when the princess should awake, she might not know what to do with herself, being all alone in this old palace ; therefore she touched with her wand every thing in the palace, except the king and queen, governesses, maids of honour, ladies of the bed-chamber, gentlemen, officers, stewards, cooks, under-cookj, scullions, guards, with their beef-eaters, pages, and footmen ; she likewise touched all the horses that were in the stables, as well pads as others, the great dog in the outer 8 court, and the little spaniel bitch which lay by her on the bed. Immediately on her touching them they all fell asleep, that they might not, wake before her mistress, and that they might be ready to wait upon her when she wanted them. The very spits at the fire, as full as they could be of partridges and pheasant, and every thing in the place, wheth- er animate or inanimate, fell asleep also. All this was done in a moment ; for fairies are not long in doing their business And now the king and queen, having '.kissed their child without waking her, went out of the palace, and put forth a proclamation, that nobody should come near it. This, however, was unne- cessary ; for in less than a quarter of an hour, there got up all around the park such a vast num- ber of trees, great and small bushes, and bram- bles, twined one within the other, that neither man nor beast could pass through, so that noth- ing could be seen but the very tops of the towers of the palace, and not that too, unless it was a good way off. Nobody doubted but the fairy gave therein a very extraordinary sample of her art, that the princess, while she remained sleep- ing, might have nothing to fear from any curious people. When a hundred years were gone and. past, 9 the son of a king then reigning-, and who was of another family from that of the sleeping princess, being out a hunting on that side of the country, asked what these towers were which he saw in the midst of a great thick wood. Every one answered according as they had heard, some said it was an old ruinous castle, haunted by spir- its : others, that all the sorcerers and witches kept their sabbath, or weekly meeting, in that place. The most common opinion was, that an ogree* lived there, and that he carried thither all the little children he could catch, that he mioht eat them up at his leisure, without any body being able to follow him, as having himself only power to pass through the wood. The prince was at a stand, not knowing what to believe, when an aged man spoke to him thus : May it please your highness, it is about fifty years since I heard from my father, who heard my grandfather say, that there was then in this castle a princess, the most beautiful that was ever seen, that she must sleep there for a hundred * An ogree is a giant with long teeth and claws, a raw head and bloody bones ; who runs away with little boys and girls, and eats them up. 10 years, and would be wakened by a king's son, for vrbom she was reserved. The young prince was all on fire at these words, believeing, without considering- the mat- ter, that he could put an end to this rare adven- ture, and, pushed on by love and honour, resolv- ed that moment to look into it. Scarce had he advanced towards the wood, when all the great trees, the bushes, and bram- bles, gave way of their own accord, and let him pass through. He went up to the castle, which he saw at the end of a large avenue, which he went into ; and what not a little surprised him was, he saw none of his people could follow him, because the trees closed again as soon as he passed through them. However, he did not cease from valiantly con- tinuing his way. He came into a spacious out- ward court, where every thing he saw might have frozen up the most hardy person with horror . There reigned all over a most frightful silence, the image of death every where shewed itself, and there was nothing to be seen hut stretched- out bodies of men and animals, all seeming to be dead. He, however, very well knew, by the rosy faces and the pimpled noses of the beef-eaters, that they were only asleep ; and their goblets, where- 11 in still remained some few drops or wine, plainly showing- that they all had fallen asleep in their eups. He then, crossing a court, paved with marble, went up stairs, and came into the guard-cham- ber, where the guards were standing in their ranks, with their muskets upon their shoulders, and snorting as loud as they could. After that, he went through several rooms full of gentlemen and ladies all asleep, some standing and others sitting. At last he came into a chamber all gilt with gold; here he saw, upon a bed, the curtains of which were all open, the finest sight that ever he beheld — a princess, who appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen years of age, and those resplend- ent beauty had in it something divine. He ap- proached with trembling and admiration, and fell down before her on his knees. And now the en- chantment was at an end ; the princess awaked, and looked on him with eyes more tender than the first view might seem to admit of. Is it you my prince ? said she to him ; you have waited a long time. The prince, charmed with these words, aad much more with the manner, in which they were spoken, asured her that he loved ker better titan himself. 12 Their discourse was so well conducted, that they did weep more than talk ; there was very little eloquence, but a great deal of love, He was more at a loss than she was, and no wonder^ as she had time to think on what to say to him ; for it is very probable, though the history men- tions nothing- of it, that the good fairy? during* so long a sleep, had given her agreeable dreams. In short, they talked four hours together, and yet said not half of what they had got to say. In the mean time all in the palace awaked, every one thinking on his particular, business ; and as all of them were not in love, they were ready to die with hunger. The chief lady of honour, being as sharp set as the others, grew very impatient, and told the princess aloud, that the supper was served up. The prince helped the princess to rise, she being entirely dressed, and very magnificent; though his royal highness did not forget to tell her, that she was dressed like his grandmother, and had a point-band peep- ing over a high collar; but, however, she looked not less beautiful and charming for all that. They went into the great hall of lookino^ glasses, where they supped, and were served by the officers of the princess ; the violins and haut- boys played all old tunes, but very excellent, though it was now about a hundred years since IS they had lived. And after supper, without los- ing any time, the lord almoner married them in the chapel of the castle, and the chief lady of honour drew the curtains. - r. They had but very little sleep that night, the princess had no occasion ; and the prince left her the next morning to return into the citv, where his father had been in great pain anxious for his return. The prince told him he had lost his way in the forest as he was hunting, and had lain at the cottage of a collier, who had given him some brown bread and cheese. The king his father, who was a very good man, readily believed him ; but his mother the queen could not be persuaded that this was alto- gether true ; and, seeing that he went almost every day a hunting, and that he had always found some excuse for so doing, though he had lain out three or four nights together, she began to suspect (and very justly too) his having some little private amour, which he then endeavoured that she should remain ignorant of. Now these frequent excursions, which he then made from the palace, where the times that he retired to the princess, with whom he lived in this manner for about two years, and by whom he had two fine children, the el/lest of whom was 14 a girl, whom they named Morning, and the youngest a boy, whom they named Day, because he was a great deal handsomer and much more beautiful and comely than the sister. The queen's jealousy increasing, she several times spoke to her son, desiring him to inform her after what manner he spent his time, alleg- ing that, as he saw her so very uneasy, he ought in duty to satisfy her. But he never dared to trust her with his secret ; for she was of the race of ogers, and the king would certainly not have married her, had it not been for her vast riches. It was whispered about the court that she had an ogerish inclination, and that whenever she saw any little children going by, she had all the difficulty in the world to refrain from falling upon them ; so the prince would never tell her one word. But when the king was dead, which happened about two years afterwards, and he saw himself lord and master, he then openly declared his marriage, and went in great ceremony to con- duct his queen to the palace. They made a very magnificent entry into the city, with her two children beside her, Some time after the king went to make war with the emperor Cantalabute, his neighbour. He left the government ot the kingdom to the queen his mother, and earnestly recommended to her the care of his wife and children. As soon as he was departed, the queen sent for her daughter-in-law to come to her, and then sent her to a country house among the woods, that she might with more ease and secrecy grati- fy her inclinations. Some few days after she went to this country house herself, and calling for the clerk of the kitchen, she said to him, I have a mind to eat little Morning for my dinner to-morrow. Ah ! madam, cried the clerk of the kitchen, in a very great surprise, No excuse, replied she, interrupting him; I will have it so ; — and this she spoke in the tone of an ogress, seeming tc have a strong desire to taste fresh meet. And to make the dish more delicious, added she, I will eat her with sauce made of Robert. This poor man, knowing very well how dan- gerous it was to pla}^ tricks with ogresses, took his great knife and went up into little Morning's chamber. She was then four years old, and came up to him leaping and laughing, to take him about the neck, and asked him for some sugar- candy, on which he began to weep, and the knife fell out of his hand; and he we at into the back yard and killed a lamb, which he dressed with 16 such good sauce, that his mistre35 asured him she had never eaten any thing- so good in all her life. He had at the same time taken up little Morn- ing, and carried her to his wife, in order that she might be concealed in a lodging which he had at the bottom of the court-yard. The queen's lascivious appetite (according to her own apprehensions) being once humoured, she again began to long for another dainty bit. Accordingly, a few days after, she called for the clerk of the kitchen, and told him that she in- tended that night to sup out of little Day. He answered never a word, being resolved to cheat her as he had done before. He went out to find little Day, and saw him with a foil in his hand, with which he was fencing with a monkey, the child being but three years old. He took him up in his arms and carried him to his wife, that she might conceal him in her chamber, along with his sister ; and, in the room of little Day, cooked up a young kid very tender, which the ogress praised as much as the former, saying it was wonderfully good. • All hitherto was mighty well ; but a few even- ings after this craving ogress said to the clerk of the kitchen, I will also eat the young queen with the same sauce that I had with the children. 17 Now was the critical time ; for tbe poor elerk despaired of being able to deceive her. The young queen was turned of twenty years of age, not counting the hundred years she had been asleep, though her skin was somewhat tough vet she was fair and beautiful ; and how to find a beast in the yard so firm that he might kill and cook for to appease her canine appetite, was what puzzled him greatly, and made him totally at a loss what to do. He then took a resolution that he must save his own life, and cut the queen's throat ; and, go- ing into her chamber with an intent to do it at once, he put himself into as great a fury as he could, went into the queen's room with his dag- ger in his hand. However, his humanity would not allow him to surprise her, but he told her, with a great deal of respect, the orders he had received from the queen her mother Do it, said she, stretching out her neck ; exe- cute your orders, and I shall go and see my childr .en, whom I so dearly love. For she thought them dead ever since they had been taken from her. No, fair princess ! cried the humane clerk of the kitchen, all in tears ; you shall see your child- ren again. But then you shall go with me to my lodgings, where I have concealed them ; ana 18 I shall deceive the queen once more, by giving her another young kid in your stead. Upon this he forthwith conducted her to her chamber, where he left her to embrace her child- ren, and cry aloud with them ; and he then went and dressed a young kid, which the queen had for supper, and devoured it with- the same appe- tite as though it had been the young queen Now was she exceedingly delighted with this unheard-of cruelty, and she had invented a story to tell the king at his return, how the mad wolves had eaten up the queen his wife, with her two children. One evening some time after, as she was, ac- cording to her usual custom, rambling about the court and yards of the palace, to see if she could smell any fresh meat, she heard, in a ground- room, little Day crying, for his mother was go- ing to whip him because he had been guilty of some fault, and she heard at the same time little Morning soliciting pardon for her brother The ogress presently knew the voice of the queen and her children, and, being quite in a rage to think she had been thus deceived, she com- manded the next morning, by break of day, in a most terrible voice, which made every one tremble, that they should bring into the middle :)£ the court a very large tub, which she caused to be filled with toads, vipers, snakes, and aU sorts of serpents, in order to throw into it the queen and her children, the clerk of the kitchen, his wife and maid ; all of whom she had ^iven orders to have them all brought thither, with their hands tied behind them, to suffer th o ven- geance of the incensed ogress. They were brought out accordingly, and the executioners were going to throw them into the tub, when the king fortunately entered the court in his carriage, and asked, with the utmost as- tonishment, what was meant by this horrid spec- tacle ; no one daring to tell him. When the ogress saw what had happened, she fell into a violent passion, and threw herself head foremost into the tub, and was instantly devour- ed by the ugly creatures she had ordered to be thrown into it for others. The king could not but grieve being very sorry, for she was his mother ; but he soon com- forted himself with his beautiful wife, and his two pretty children. And after all things were settled, he well rewarded the clerk of the kitchen for his wisdom, humanity and compassion. 20 THE X&QRAXf. To get a husband rich, gentle, and gay,, Of humour sweet, some time to stay Is natural enough, 'tis true ; But then to wait a hundred years, And all the while asleep, appears A thing entirely new. Now at this time of day, Not one of all the sex we see To sleep with such found tranquillity. But yet this fable seems to let us know, That very often Hymen's bless is sweet, Although some tedious obstacles they meet Which makes us for them a long while stay, And that we nothing lose by such delay. But warm'd by nature's lambient fires, The sex so ardently aspires, Of this blest state the sacred joys t' embrace, And with each earnest heart pursue'm, I've not the will, I must confess, ^or yet the power of fine address, To preadi this moral to 'em. 21 PADDY AND THE BEAR. About the time I was a boy, Archy Thompson lived in Cushendall, lower part of county Antrim. He was a great man ; kept a grocer's shop, and was in fact a complete Jack Factotum, and sold every thing portable, from a needle to an anchor ; he was a ponderous fellow, wore a wig like a bee- hive, and was called the king of Cushendall One night, when he was returning home from a friend's wake, he found a male child at the shop door some months old ; he embraced it — swore he would keep it, and was as fond of him as ever Squire Allworthy was of Tom Jones. A woman was sent for to nurse him ; they called her Snou- ter Shaughnessy, because she wanted the nose Snouter had no suck, and poor Paddy (for so he was christened) was spoon-fed, and soon grew a stout, well-built fellow, and to show his grati- tude, (for Paddy had a heart) would do all the work about the house himself. He was like Scrub in the Beaux Stratagem, servant of all work ; he milked the cow ; he cleaned the byre, and thatched it ; he went to market ; he soled the shoes ; he cleaned the knives ; he shaved ; and powdered his master's wig ; and, in short, did as much work in one day as an ordinary servant would do in a week. Paddy's delight was in fre- quenting wakes and listening to all sorts of mar- vellous stories, which he would swallow down 22 ust the more readily the mere marvellous they were His master having gone one day to Bel- fast, he went to old Brien Sollaghan's wake, where a lad just come home from a foreign voy- age was telling stories out of the course of nature, improbable. Paddy believed all he was relating but something about blackamoors ; for he swore 44 'twas impossible for one man to be black, and another man white, for he could not be naturally black without he was painted ; but," says he, 4 I'll ask the master in the morning, when he comes home, and then I'll know all about it.' So he says in the morning, 4 Master, is there any such a thing as a blackamoor ?' 4 To be sure there is, as many as would make regiments of them, but they're all abroad.' 4 And what makes them black?' 4 Why, it's the climate, they say.' 4 And what's the climate ?' 4 Why I don't know : I be- lieve it's something they rub upon them when they're very young.' 4 They must have a deal of it, and very cheap, if there's as many of them as you say. — The next time you're in Belfast, I wish you'd get a piece of it, and we'll rub little Barney over with it and then we can have a blackamoor of our own. But as I'm going in the Irish Vol- unteer, from Larne to America, in the spring, I'll see them there. Paddy went over as a re- demptioner and had to serve a time for his pass- age. One day he was sent by his master six miles from Baltimore, to the heights of Derby, on an errand. Paddy, thinking and ruminating on the road that he had not yet seen a blackamoor, i* forgot the directing-post on the road, and got en- tangled in a forest ; it happened to be deep snow, and there was a large black bear lying at the toot of a tree, which he did not observe till within a few yards of him. 4 Hurra, my darling !' says he, 4 here's one of them now at last — queen of glory ! such a nose as he has : they talk about Loughey Fadaghan's nose ; why, the noses of all the Fadaghans put together would not make this fellow's nose. I never saw one of your sort be- fore,' says Paddy ; ' why, man, you'll get your death of cowld lying there; I have an odd tester yet left, that I brought from Cushendall, and if there's a shebeen near this, I'll give you a snif- ter, for I'd like to have a talk with you.' ' Boo,' says the bear. 4 Lord, what a voice he has — he could sing a roaring song.' 4 Boo, boo !' again cries the bear. 4 Who are you booing at, may I ax ? for if it's fun you're making of me, ram my fist up to the elbow in you. 4 Up get the bear, | and catches Paddy by the shoulder. 4 Is it for I wrestling you are ? — Cushendall for that — soul, [but you grip too tight, my jewel ; you had better take your fist out of my shoulder, or I'll take an unfair advantage of yon.' Paddy went to catch him by the middle ; \ Q fweet bad luek to y©u, r '•'>>';■ '', ; ' !; : PNt|?o BiS SCV fS'-n 24 you thief, and the tailor that made your breeches you're made for wrestling, but I'll nick you.' Paddy pulled out his tobacco-knife, and gave him a prod in the right place, and down he fell to rise no more. i O murther ; what will become of me now?' says he — ' I've killed this big, ugly black blackguard, and I'll be hanged for him. O mur- der, murder! O what will become of me!' A proprietor of the place, comes up at the moment, « What is all this about? — what's the matter, my good fellow?' 4 Oh, your honour's glory, I'm a stranger ^— I'm from Cushendall, your honour, I never seen a blackamoor before, and I just asked one of them to take a drop with me; but he would do dothing but make fun of me, so I gave him a prod, for I could not get hold of him — Stop, stop there's a bear lying there, take care.' — the black- amoor,' 4 By the holy father, says Paddy, ' is that a bear ! faith then I'll engage I'll drop them to you for a tester a-dozeu.' The gentleman ad- mired his courage so much, that he went to Bal- timore, bought off his time, and made him an overseer of his estate, which he filled with inte- grity ; and after seventeen years, came home to his native country, left what he had saved to old Snouter's grand-children, and had his bones laid in the same Tave with his old and loving master. ; McGIII LBMSf