A Shetland Folk Tale: The Boy and the Brunnie

NorthLink Ferries are releasing a series of folk tales from Shetland and Orkney to celebrate Scotland’s Year of Stories. These tales were once told in crofts on a winter’s night. We hope you enjoy this Shetland tale of the Boy and the Brunnie!

The giant searched the cave and hauled the boy out of his hiding place. “This boy is far too small to eat”, declared the giant. He ordered the old woman to tether the boy by his little finger and feed him every day with meal and milk. “When the boy’s leg is as thick as my little finger, then he will be ready for eating.”

Once upon a time there was a young boy who lived with his mother. One day she wanted him to go to the hill and check that the cattle were all right. As a reward, his mother gave him a big, thick brunnie (big round oatcakes made with fat) to eat on his way.

He climbed the Earne’s knowe to sit and eat his brunnie. As he took it from his pocket he dropped it and it rolled down and disappeared into a thick clump of heather. He parted the heather to look for it and discovered a hole in the hill. It was so big that he put his head in, then squeezed his whole body through the hole.

He found himself in a huge cave. At a distance he saw a big fire, and a very big, old woman stirring in a cooking pot that hung above it. The boy could guess that the old woman was blind, therefore it would be wise to hide in case someone else came in and discovered him. Just in time he found a hiding place.

He heard heavy footsteps and into the cave, through another entrance, came a giant carrying a bag of booty, because the giant had been looting the surrounding farms. The giant sat down and the old woman dished up the food. The giant ate and ate, before sitting back in his chair with a contented look on his face.

But then he raised his big, ugly hairy face and sniffed the air:

“Fee, fy, foe fum,
I smell the blood of an earthly man,
be he living or be he dead,
I’ll have his head with my supper bread!”

The giant searched the cave and hauled the boy out of his hiding place. “This boy is far too small to eat”, declared the giant. He ordered the old woman to tether the boy by his little finger and feed him every day with meal and milk. “When the boy’s leg is as thick as my little finger, then he will be ready for eating.”

At last the night came when the giant declared that the boy was big enough to boil for the next day’s dinner.

The next morning the old woman put on a bigger fire than usual, and above it she hung the biggest pot, two thirds full of water. When the water was hot she came to the boy and said, “I want you to climb up on my back and tell me if the water is boiling.”

“I am just a stupid boy,” he said, “I know nothing about cooking. You go on my back and, even if you are blind, you will know if the water is boiling.” To humour him the old woman agreed.

She was awfully heavy, but he managed to dump the old woman into the kettle and put on the lid. He put more peats on the fire and boiled the old woman all day. In the evening he served her up on the table for the giant. He found five round pebbles, put them in his pocket and climbed on a ledge above the giant’s table.

The giant came in, sat down and began to devour the old woman. “Tough, tough,” the giant said, but he kept on eating. He sat back in his chair and fell asleep, his mouth open and snoring loudly. The boy took aim and dropped the pebbles into the giant’s mouth. The stones stuck fast in his gullet and they killed him.

The boy came down and found the place where the giant kept his treasure. He was glad to go home to his mother and with the giant’s treasure they were able to live in peace, and with plenty, for all the days of their lives.

By Tom Muir
Tom is a champion of folk tales from Orkney, bringing them back to the public through books and as a professional storyteller. His day job is at the Orkney Museum. Along with his wife, Rhonda, he runs Orkneyology.com to bring more stories into the world at a time when they are much needed.

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