Nicholas Kinney

We are familiar with German folktales from the brothers Grimm "Kinder und Hausmarchen" and French ones from Charles Perrault. Here is a charming story from Flanders which has all the ingredients of a classic fable. A poor old woman living on her own had nothing in the world to give her pleasure so she was called Misery. Well, she had one thing of beauty & joy- an apple tree that gave forth juicy, delicious ripe red gold fruit. But people kept stealing all her apples. Day after day she would check the tree to find the fruit disappearing yet she never spied the thieves. One day a stranger passed by, an ancient man with a long white beard who asked Misery if she could spare a crust of bread for a hungry traveller. She obliged and he said he might grant her a wish. Misery replied " I wish that anyone who touches my apple tree sticks to it until I decide to set him free" The following day Misery came out of her house to find an amazing sight. She saw sticki...

Cormac mac Airt was a mythical High King of Ireland. He was described in the annals of Clonmacnoise as being "absolutely the best king that ever reigned in Ireland", that he was "wise,learned,valiant and mild, not given causelessly to be bloody as many of his ancestors were" and that he "reigned majestically and magnificently" His reign was in the time of the great heroes including Fionn mac Cumhaill. However he had no t always been the ideal sovereign; he learned to be wise after a unique experience.                                              the silver branch that banishes all sorrow                               ...