I is for Ibex, a kind of wild goat,

I was the Ibex, a kind of wild goat

The Lovesick Stallion, from an idea by Uncle Will Fairfield. xx

The Lovesick Stallion

Once upon a time there was a beautiful horse called Henry, nowadays he spent a lot of his time galloping around the meadows. This he had always done, so it was very strange what happened to him, this beautiful day, in August. He stood quite still and wondered why it was he had never, ever wanted to run free~ it just never came into his mind before ~ yet, here he was in the middle of the paddock, thinking just that.
Henry , which was the name given to him when he was born, had lived in the same place all his life. The Barn, his home since he was a small colt, stood as lovely as ever in the corner of his paddock, he wanted for nothing; fresh hay, grooming by a beautiful young filly named Janice, whose pony tail was almost as long as his, brought him fresh water and food everyday, in fact, every day he was well looked after.
As a youngster, he had remained rather a gangly, little chap for quite a while, he often thought this was why he had been able to stay at Brookefield and not been sold on. Now however, he had made up for the lost growing times with his rich, grey dappled coat and a mane and tail that could have been made with spun silver and spiders webs covered in morning dew, he had also grown in stature and by the time he was three, he could have been mistaken as Tolkein's great Shadowfax. Yes, life for Henry was very comfortable to say the least.
Maybe that is why he suddenly began to have this desperate urge to be free; roam the wild meadows beyond the hills. These thoughts were very alien to Henry, but they remained with him all that day. Night began to fall and Henry made his way down to the barn, his stable I suppose we should call it. After eating his supper he stood by the stable door, resting his long neck against the wooden rail, he smiled as his eyes rested on the worn out groove to one side of the feeding basket. He smiled again as he realised that he was dreaming of the one he loved far, far away.
.............
and they lived happily ever after.

SNOWDROP AND THE DWARFS, as told by the brothers Grimm, before Disney.

SNOWDROP AND THE DWARFS

One winter day, when the snow lay deep on the ground,
a gentle queen sat by her window working.
As she worked she pricked her finger,
so that two little drops of blood fell from it.
The queen sighed and said:
"How I wish that I might have a little daughter
with cheeks as rosy as those drops of blood,
skin as white as alabaster, and hair as black as Ebony.
To her great delight the queen's wish was granted,
and before long a little daughter came,
the Queen named her Snowdrop.
Alas soon after this the good Queen died,
and Snowdrop's father, the king,
married another lady, she was very beautiful
but she was also very vain and unkind.
She new that she was the most beautiful lady
in the land because when she looked into
her magic mirror and asked:

Say, glass that hangeth on the wall
Who is the fairest of beauties all?

The glass would always answer:

Thou, Queen, art the fairest of beauties all.

As the years rolled by little Snowdrop grew
into a very sweet and lovely girl, and one day
when the vain queen asked the glass the old,
old question to her great surprise it replied:

Fair and lovely though the queen,
Snowdrop is lovelier far, I deem.

Hushaby, Babby, Lie still with thy daddy. thy mammy has gone to the mill.

NURSERY RHYMES FROM DADDY !

Hushabye, babby, lie still with thy daddy,
Thy mammy has gone to the mill
To get some wheat, to make some meal,
So pray, my dear babby, lie still.

If you are to be a gentleman,
As I suppose you be,
You'll neither laugh nor smile
For a tickling of the knee.

Charlie came home yesterday with this little rhyme for you to read.

Charlie has found you a lovely rhyming story about a Hedgehog who was really a Prince


The Hedgehog

Where gnarly hedgeroots twine around,
A little animal I've found;
It has no feet, it has no head,
but pins are everywhere instead.
I'd like to stroke it very much,
But it's so thorny to the touch
I'll have to leave it in the sun,
The little sleepy, prickly one!

I read a story ages since,
That told about a fairy prince,
Who had to wear a hedgehog shell
Until a Princess broke the spell.

There's a Baby In that House. At no. 1 Diaper Road. Diddilydeedot's Dreamland, I believe

Welcome to the No 1 Diaper Row



A BABY IN THE HOUSE

I knew that baby was hid in that house
Though I saw no cradle and heard no cry;
But the husband was tip-toeing around like a mouse,
And the good wife was humming a soft lullaby;
And there was a look on the face of the mother,
That I knew could mean only one thing, and no other.

The mother, I said to myself, for I knew
That the woman before me was certainly that;
And there lay in the corner a tiny cloth shoe,
And I saw on a stand such a wee little hat;
And the beard of the husband said, plain as could be,
"Two fat chubby hands have been tugging at me."